The consultation is complete and the referral period is over.
Now the wind power company WPD Offshore is moving to the next phase before the application to the Land and Environmental Court and it is about continued investigations based on the views that have been received.
“The needs of the whole of Norrbotten”
The company wants to build between 70 and 120 offshore wind turbines outside Kalix that are 350 meters high and have a wingspan of 330 meters.
The Polargrund wind farm is to be 442 kilometers in size and located roughly three miles from the mainland.
According to the plans, ten terawatt-hours of renewable electricity will be produced per year, which corresponds to the entire Norrbotten’s needs and approximately 7.5 percent of Sweden’s electricity use
“Strict legislation”
– But we must inventory and investigate more, use more experts and make sure to find solutions so that, among other things, the salmon’s migration to the Torne river is not significantly damaged.
– We have legislation, the Environmental Code, which is very strict. If the establishment would destroy the salmon, it must not be built, regardless of the social benefit. It is the court that decides, says Olle Hedberg CEO of WPD Offshore.
“The impact must be minimized”
Johan Antti, vice-chairman of the Finnish-Swedish border river commission, believes that Torne älv’s migratory salmon may have migration routes through the planned project area.
And that the Natura 2000 species would be negatively affected by it.
– The impact must be minimized and we believe that Sweden’s and Finland’s responsible authorities must act together to cope with this. We are afraid that this major investment will mean that the salmon will not find their spawning grounds in the Torne River, he says.
According to the wind power company’s planning, a permit should be in place by 2024/2025 and the offshore wind farm should be in operation by 2030.