Out at sea, several companies want to build large parks of wind turbines along Sweden’s coast. But if they are placed in the wrong area, they risk obscuring the view of the Armed Forces’ surveillance system.
– The biggest problem with wind turbines is that they affect our sensors in a very negative way, says Carl-Johan Edström, lieutenant general and head of the defense staff.
Delays bot detection
According to the Swedish Armed Forces’ analysis, a park with wind turbines can mean that it takes a minute longer to detect if, for example, a cruise robot has been fired at Sweden.
The reason is that the towers and rotating blades of the wind turbines emit extensive radar echoes and other disturbances. Since underwater sensors are also affected, the possibility of detecting an enemy submarine also decreases.
– It is not something we can accept with today’s threat picture and the responsibility we have towards Sweden as a nation, says Carl-Johan Edström.
In a report from the Ministry of Defence, which SVT has seen, it appears that there are “lack of conditions to establish wind power” in large parts of the Baltic Sea.
The assessment is based on data from the Swedish Armed Forces and applies to the entire sea area between Åland in the north (Northern Baltic Sea) and Öresund in the south (Southwest Baltic Sea).
– When it comes to the Baltic Sea area in particular, we see great difficulties in having a coexistence between large wind farms and a maintained military capability to defend Sweden, says Carl-Johan Edström.
Affects large wind farms in the Baltic Sea
There are plans for several large wind farms in the area, which together could provide a significant addition to the Swedish electricity supply, which has been pointed out as decisive for climate change.
– We are also dependent on a sustainable energy supply for our business. We want to enter earlier in the process to be able to define where it is good to build, says Carl-Johan Edström.
It is the government that decides whether an offshore wind farm receives a permit or not.
– We will have to make an overall assessment of this. We naturally weigh what the Swedish Armed Forces say, but I do not want to prejudge the assessment that we will have to make, we will have to come back to that, says Defense Minister Pål Jonson (M).