Wind Power News: Sweden
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Vindkraft i kris – kommuner ska få ”incitament” att bygga
[Wind energy in crisis – Noise, unstable electricity, depreciation of people’s housing and destruction of nature are just some of the arguments that have stopped several wind farms in recent times. In 2021, 32 of 42 current land-based wind power projects were stopped, according to a new report from the lobby organization Swedish Wind Energy. New statistics ordered by the Swedish Energy Agency are similar. Since 2014, about half of the wind power applications have been approved, but by 2020 it . . . Complete story »
Kim har kedjat fast sig i nedgrävda bilen: ”Trötta på vindkraftexploateringen”
[Kim Hultgren has chained himself inside the buried car: “Tired of wind power exploitation”] Vindkraftsbygget ”Twin Peaks” i Sollefteå kommun har upprört ortsbor så till den grad att en grupp aktivister nu demonstrerar mot bygget. Bland annat har man grävt ner en bil mitt i grusvägen och gjutit betong runt den för att den ska sitta fast i vägen. Redan under söndagen inleddes demonstrationen mot vindkraftsbygget Twin Peaks i Sollefteå. I ett pressmeddelande skriver aktivisterna att ”ett antal engagerade medborgare . . . Complete story »
Vindkraftsbygge möter på protester – kedjar fast sig i bil
[Wind energy construction meets with protests – In Sollefteå, the Twin Peaks project has generated anything but positive reactions among the residents. Among other things, a car has been immersed in cement to make access more difficult and a person has been chained to it.] I Sollefteå har vindkraftsbygget Twin Peaks genererat allt annat än positiva reaktioner bland de boende. Bland annat har man sänkt ned en bil i cement för att försvåra framkomligheten och i denna har en person kedjat . . . Complete story »
‘Green industry wants to take our land’: the Arctic paradox
The stove gurgles as Sofia Olsson puts a chunk of wood into the fire, lifts the kettle and offers mugs of tea and grainy camp coffee to the small group reclining on reindeer skins around her. In the taiga forest and frozen marsh outside their snow-covered Swedish military tent, it’s -12C (10.4F). Last night, it was near -20C (-4F). But inside, it’s surprisingly comfortable. Olsson and her fellow activists Jakob Bowers and Lan Pham have been here in the hamlet . . . Complete story »
Sweden to stop local governments blocking wind parks in final stages
Sweden’s government has proposed a new law which will remove local municipalities’ power to block wind parks in the final stages of the planning process, as part of a four-point plan to speed up the expansion of wind power. “We are doing this to meet the increased need for electricity which is going to come as a result of our green industrial revolution,” Strandhäll said at a press conference. “It is important to strengthen Sweden by rapidly breaking our dependence . . . Complete story »
Chinese wind farm investments stoke concerns in Sweden
STOCKHOLM – A political scrap is brewing in Sweden over a key ingredient in the country’s effort to shift away from fossil fuels: Chinese money. It’s all about the hundreds of millions of euros being plowed into Swedish wind farms by Chinese state-owned China General Nuclear Power Group, or CGN, with opposition lawmakers fearing the security consequences of allowing Beijing a foothold in Sweden’s future energy production. Through questions in parliament and a steady drumbeat of statements to the media over . . . Complete story »
Wind reliance could hamper Sweden’s winter power supplies
The rising share of intermittent wind power in Europe’s energy supplies and grid constraints could make it harder for Sweden to source power imports at peak demand times in winter, grid company Svenska kraftnaet said on Monday. Sweden may need to import up to 1,600 megawatts (MW) of electricity to cover peak consumption during a normal winter, roughly 6% of last winter’s peak demand of 25,500 MW, the transmission system operator (TSO) said in an annual review. This projection was little . . . Complete story »
Third crane accident hits project installing giant GE wind turbines to power Google
A third crane accident has hit a project to install GE Renewable Energy’s largest onshore turbine platform at a Swedish wind farm that will supply Google. No one was hurt in the latest incident at the 175MW Bjorkvattnet project almost 500km north of Stockholm, its developer told Recharge. The early April accident follows the collapse of a large crane amid severe weather in January that added to Covid-related delays at Bjorkvattnet, which is using GE’s 5.3MW Cypress turbines, and in . . . Complete story »
Sweden’s fading enthusiasm for onshore wind farms
MALUNG, Sweden – Sweden faces a looming green electricity shortage, but its plan to scale up wind power has hit a problem: resistance from Swedes who don’t want giant turbines as neighbors. Sweden, like a number of other northern European countries, sees wind power as a relatively cheap and quick way to move away from the fossil-fuel-driven power generation which has exacerbated the global climate crisis. The Nordic country plans to scale up its wind power capacity to 100 terawatt-hours by . . . Complete story »
Why even pristine Sweden struggles with green energy
As a world leader in renewable energy and a major exporter of low-carbon electricity, Sweden is among the green elite. Yet a cold snap provoked a political storm this winter when, in order to keep the lights on, the authorities started up a 52-year-old oil-fired power plant. A furious debate centered on the wisdom of decommissioning nuclear plants, and even the use of vacuum cleaners, exposing a divide over plans to rely more on wind power for everything from transport . . . Complete story »
