European Energy’s 128MW solar park in Svedberga outside Helsingborg has been approved by the Land and Environment Court in Vaxjo.
The company is getting ready to start constructing the project, Sweden’s largest solar park to date, after being halted earlier this year when the County Board in Skane decided to reject the application.
The Land and Environment Court in Vaxjo found that the decision was wrong, however. Assuming the verdict is not appealed, the solar park could be producing electricity already in 2024, which will increase supply and pressure electricity prices downwards.
In its decision, the Land and Environmental Court states that the protective measures and adaptations that European Energy has proposed to protect the environment are sufficient. They refer, among other things, to the comprehensive environmental impact assessment.
“The solar park will generate new green electricity corresponding to the annual consumption of 35,000 residential households, which is the largest single contribution of new electricity to the region in many years,” said Jens-Peter Zink, Deputy CEO of European Energy.
The solar park in Svedberga covers a total area of 232.5 hectares, of which approximately one third will be utilised for solar power production. The rest of the land can be used for agricultural cultivation. At the outer edge of the solar park, many trees and bushes will be planted – a reinforcement of biological diversity.
“The plan is to have the entire park completed in 2023 and in production in 2024,” said Peter Braun, Head of Projects in Sweden, Norway and Finland for European Energy.