Sweden looks to build 2,000 turbines

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - The Swedish government has revealed plans to build 2,000 wind turbines over the next 10 years to make renewable energy as productive as the country's nuclear power stations.

Sweden is one of the most advanced countries in Europe in the renewable energy sector and has set a goal to produce 50% of its electricity from renewables by 2020. Sweden's Enterprise and Energy Minister Maud Olofsson claimed that the turbines will help boost electricity from renewables by 10 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2020.

In addition to this, the country will also expand the rollout of solar farms and biomass plants to add another 15 TWh. With this extra 25 TWh, renewable energy production will reach 50 TWh, the equivalent of the power produced by Sweden's nuclear power sector. Renewable energy currently accounts for about 20% of Sweden's total electricity mix.

"Sweden has extremely good prospects for rapidly increasing the production of renewable energy, especially from the burning of biofuels, cogeneration plants and wind power," Olofsson wrote in a recent report.

According to the latest statistics from the European Wind Energy Association, Sweden accounted for more than 1,550 megawatts (MW) of installed wind at the end of 2009, up from slightly more than 1,000 MW at the end of 2008. In Europe, Sweden accounted for 5% of new wind installations last year, investing about 770 million euros (US $1.04 billion) in 200 wind power installations.

While Sweden has nowhere near as much wind power as Denmark's 3,500 MW, Sweden's investment in the sector is growing very quickly and it now has three times more wind than Norway and 15 times more than Finland, its closest neighbours.

The move to drastically increase the country's wind power generation capacity has been welcomed by industry groups.

"It's very positive and a sign of strength for the entire industry that continues to attract very large investments and grow rapidly in the worst downturn in modern times," said Matthias Rapp, chief executive officer at Swedish Wind Energy, which represents most of the wind energy companies in Sweden.

Last year, Norwegian energy company Statkraft AS signed a 1 billion euro (US $1.36 billion) deal with Swedish forestry and timber company Södra to build a potential portfolio of 300 wind installations on Södra's properties. The deal saw Statkraft take a 90% share in the small wind power operation, Södra Vindkraft AB. The company believes it could generate 1.6 TWh of electricity per year.