Kriegers flak is an economic zone located in the southern Baltic Sea about 30 kilometers south of Trelleborg.

The zone is divided between Sweden, Denmark and Germany. 

On the Danish side of the Krieger flag is Denmark's largest offshore wind farm, which opened in September 2021. The wind farm in the German part opened as early as 2015. 

Swedish-owned Vattenfall applied to build a wind farm on the Swedish part in 2004, but the application has been appealed in several stages.

At present, the wind farm is expected to open only in 2028. 

- We already know today with the Danish and German part of Krieger's platforms that it is a suitable place for offshore wind power, says Sandra Grauers Nilsson, wind power manager at Vattenfall.

Bigger problems

And it's not just about Krieger's flatbed.

Denmark has seven times more offshore wind power than Sweden and Germany just over 18, despite the fact that Germany's coast is shorter than Sweden's.

- One of the obstacles to a rapid expansion is the permit processes, we need to coordinate them and they need to be shortened considerably, says Grauers Nilsson.

In Sweden, it is up to the actors themselves to find a place they think may be suitable and then examine the place themselves and apply for a permit, something that takes a long time.

- We see that there are a lot of stakeholders who are looking at areas now, but it will unfortunately be over ten years before these parks can be built, says Sara Fogelström, wind power researcher at Chalmers and director of the Swedish Wind Power Technology Center.

Government: Looking at shortening process

Both Germany and Denmark have another model, a so-called auction-based one.

In short, the right to exclusively apply for a permit for a specific site is auctioned off only after it has been checked that the site is technically suitable for wind power, and that there are no other interests at that site.

Minister of Energy Khashayar Farmanbar (S) writes in a written comment to SVT that the government is currently looking at ways to shorten the permit process for offshore wind power.