Towards a strategy for offshore wind power in Sweden

• The first offshore wind power farm was built in 1991 (in Denmark) but the diffusionof wind turbines took place mainly onshore.1 By 2013, European offshore turbinessupplied 24 TWh but there are expectations of a supply of 140 TWh by 2020.2For 2030, UK and Germany expect the supply to increase to about 115 and 87TWh respectively.3 The longer term potential is much larger and in the EuropeanCommission’s Vision 2050 scenario analysis, 800 TWh are supplied (see Chapter3 on the global potential).4 Hence, offshore wind power is seen as a strategictechnology in EU’s efforts to decarbonise electricity generation.Multifaceted government policies are applied in mainly UK, Germany and Denmarkto support development and deployment of offshore wind power, that is, interventions are not limited to forming a market but include other dimensions inthe industrialisation of the technology. Expectations of an extensive deploymentare shared by many firms in the value chain, including component suppliers,turbine manufacturers, utilities, harbours, shipyards and logistics firms. A wholeindustrial system has begun to develop in northern Europe.In this chapter, we argue that Sweden should shift from a passive to an activestance towards offshore wind power and initiate a process that eventually leadsto a large-scale deployment. In the next section, we argue that offshore windpower is a desirable technology to develop in Sweden and we suggest a target forSweden in 2030. This is followed by an analysis of mechanisms that may obstructmeeting that target and points to ways of overcoming these. In the final section, wediscuss how a strategy for Sweden could be formed.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Offshore wind power

Sweden

Publication and Content Type

kap (subject category)

vet (subject category)