Sweden gives go-ahead for offshore windpark to power 500,000 homes

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's government said on Thursday it had given state-owned utility Vattenfall a renewed and expanded license to build a windpark off the southern coast of Sweden which will produce enough power for around 500,000 homes each year.

The government said Vattenfall may build wind turbines with a total height of 280 meters at Kriegers Flak instead of the previous 170 meters and extended the license to 35 years from 30. The windpark is expected to produce 2.3-2.8 TWh of electricity each year.

"Windpower far out at sea will be decisive in strengthening Sweden's energy supply in the future," Minister for Energy and Digital Development Khashayar Farmanbar said in a statement.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has given a boost to European plans to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.

Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark on Wednesday pledged to build at least 150 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity in the North Sea by 2050 to create a "green power plant" for Europe.

Sweden's electricity comes almost exclusively from nuclear, hydro and wind power already, but the government expects a big increase in energy demand in the coming years and plans to expand off-shore wind power production by around 90 TWh as part of plans to be reach net zero emissions by 2045.

Sweden produced around 166 TWh of electricity in 2021, according to Swedenergy, of which 27.5 TWh came from wind.

(Reporting by Simon Johnson; editing by Niklas Pollard)