Sweden has canceled thirteen wind farm projects along its coasts in the Baltic Sea due to their impact on its defense capabilities, Swedish Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari announced on Monday, November 4. Construction permits for these offshore wind farms have been withdrawn because“They would have had an unacceptable impact” on the defense of the Scandinavian country, he explained at a press conference.
This decision follows the publication of a study by the armed forces, made public by public television channel SVT on Friday, which shows that these projects could significantly alter Swedish defense sensors in the Baltic. Wind turbine towers and rotating blades emit radar echoes and produce many other interferences, especially underwater.
The “highly militarized” enclave of Kaliningrad
In view of “Given the serious security situation that Sweden is currently experiencing, defense interests must weigh more in the balance”stressed the Minister of Defense, Pal Jonson, during the press conference. The thirteen offshore wind farms, if they had been maintained, would have doubled the detection time of a missile attack, which would have gone from one to two minutes, he explained.
The minister added that the relative proximity of the Russian enclave “highly militarized” of Kaliningrad had been “a central element” in the decision taken by the Swedish government. Tensions in the region have increased since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. A new NATO military base has been opened in Rostock, northern Germany, with the aim of coordinating Alliance member state forces in the front zone. to Russia.
At the same time, energy needs from renewable sources are among the priorities. Electricity consumption in Sweden could reach at least 300 TWh in 2045, double the current level, according to a report consulted by Agence France-Presse.
