The government wants to speed up the expansion of wind power, but will have to hold on tight when the Sweden Democrats storm against individual decisions.
This time it is about permit matters, where the government today wanted to show action in the matter by issuing permits for two wind farms in the Kattegatt. It is about a first permit to use the Swedish continental shelf for the projects, even if the process up to the start of construction is still long.
Not unexpected
The Sweden Democrats’ protest against this is not unexpected. Only a month ago, the SD top Oscar Sjöstedt went out in a big interview where he stated that he wants to stop all new wind power and preferably also shut down existing ones. Now the Chairman of the Business Committee Tobias Andersson (SD) believes that the government should have consulted with the party before a decision on permission was made.
It is an objection that the government seems to take in stride. Permits are a type of everyday decision that governments do not usually coordinate, even internally, and the government can also refer to the Tidö agreement specifically stating that wind power has an important place in Sweden’s energy mix.
Crying out for increased production
Sweden is crying out for increased electricity production and the government’s renewed interest in wind power reflects the realization of how long it will take to produce the new nuclear power that all government parties voted on. It explains why the prime minister chooses to participate in today’s press conference and it also explains why he spends time and energy discussing goal conflicts between local environmental interests and national energy interests. It is not only the Sweden Democrats who stand in the way of the rapid expansion that the government says it wants to see.
Both projects in Kattegatt have been appealed locally and will be tried in an environmental court. In both cases, the issue is that the wind turbines are considered to threaten bird species such as herring piglet and thrush. Appeals have also come from organizations that believe the landscape is threatened in the area. The last word on the matter has not yet been said.