Sweden's government has granted permission for two new offshore wind farms and one onshore project while rejecting several other proposed developments, three ministers said in an op-ed published in Swedish daily Expressen on Thursday.
Fyrskeppet wind farm in the southern Bothnian Sea and the Vidar project in northern Skagerrak could generate up to 19 terawatt hours of electricity annually, Climate Minister Romina Pourmokhtari, Energy Minister Ebba Busch and Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson wrote.
The government also gave the green light to a large onshore wind farm in Markbygden near Pitea.
Rejected 11 other applications for offshore wind power in the Gulf of Bothnia, the Bothnian Sea and in Vasterhavet off western Sweden, which were seen as having an unacceptable impact on Swedish defence capabilities.
Will replace its current "open door" application process for offshore wind with an auction system under which the state would first identify suitable areas before developers bid for construction rights.
(Reuters - Reporting by Essi Lehto, editing by Terje Solsvik)