A planning proposal for the Mareld floating wind farm has been made under the Swedish Economic Zone Act (SEZ) by Mainstream Renewable Power and Hexicon joint venture Freja Offshore.
The location, which lies more than 40 kilometres (km) west of Orust and near the Norwegian and Danish borders, has the capacity to house 2.5 GW, or more than half of the whole current electricity consumption of the Västra Götaland region.
In order to build and run a wind farm under the SEZ and establish an internal cable network under the Continental Shelf Act, Freja Offshore has submitted applications to the Swedish Ministry of Climate and Commerce.
The region of Västra Götaland currently imports the majority of the electricity used there.
Large amounts of power must be produced locally in order for the west of Sweden to realise its ambitious industrial aspirations and to deliver the corresponding economic benefits, including employment opportunities.
In comparison to present consumption, the west of Sweden’s electricity demand is anticipated to double by 2030 and triple by 2055.
The area intends to set up new wind and solar power to produce the required amount of electricity.
Magnus Hallman, chief executive of Freja Offshore, said “This is a significant milestone for us at Freja Offshore – after two years of hard work, and extensive stakeholder engagement, including with local communities and environmental stakeholders, we are now ready to apply for a permit that grants us the construction rights for the Mareld floating wind farm.”
“Floating wind power, which is already operational in other parts of Europe, has unique characteristics insofar as it can be situated a long distance offshore, addressing concerns regarding visual and audible pollution whilst being able to benefit from higher wind speeds.”
“We are confident that the advantages of floating offshore wind, when combined with the industrial heritage and offshore track-record of our shareholders, give us the best possible chance of being successful in our permitting application.”
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