The Swedish Wind Energy Association (SWEA) has called on the government to underline the upcoming compensation measures for municipalities will apply to offshore wind schemes as well as onshore arrays.
The move follows report from the trade group revealing the bodies have used their veto to say no to 40% of the offshore projects since 2019.
It is already known municipalities stopped 75% of onshore wind projects during the first half of 2024, it added.
“The government’s wind power package in the autumn budget should lead to more people saying yes in the future, and it needs to be clarified that the compensation to the municipalities also includes coastal offshore wind power,” said the trade group.
The decisions “can therefore in the long run stop wind power which could contribute up to 44 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity annually” added the SWEA.
It said in 15 cases, the municipalities have not yet made a decision.
The outcome of those decisions may depend to a large extent on whether the government clarifies that the autumn budget investment for a compensation to the municipalities corresponding to the property tax also covers wind power in the territorial sea.
“It should be self-evident because the municipal veto applies there as well, but needs to be clarified so that the municipalities have certainty,” said the SWEA
The report Municipal Veto in the Maritime Territory 2019-2024 was drawn up by Westander Klimat och Energi for SWEA and is a compilation of how the municipal veto has been used in Sweden’s maritime territory during the period.
The study includes 22 projects, where a single scheme often covers several municipalities.
In order for these to be realised in their entirety, 35 municipal grants are needed in a total of 29 different municipalities.
A project located in two or more municipalities can be disapproved by one body, but approved by another. In these cases, it may be possible to carry out a reduced scheme, but sometimes the entire development is dropped for reasons of profitability.
SWEA’s head of offshore wind power Lina Kinning (pictured) said: “Offshore wind power has the potential to contribute with large electricity production.
“Here, the municipalities have an absolutely decisive role in enabling that potential.
“The wind power industry thinks it is reasonable that the municipalities that contribute to the electrification also get to share in the benefits of the expansion.
SWEA industry lawyer Ina Müller Engelbrektson added: “It is good news that the government is introducing a compensation to the municipalities for wind power.
“Now both the government and the opposition parties need to express that the compensation should be permanent, so that it continues to be paid out after 2027.
“This is needed for the incentive to have full effect, because municipalities that say yes to new wind power know that they will receive compensation when the projects have time be built, both on land and in the territorial sea.”