2.5 GW Mareld Floating Offshore Wind farm in Sweden receives positive recommendation from County Board

Mainstream Renewable Power ("Mainstream"), the pureplay global wind and solar company majority-owned by Aker Horizons ASA, announced that The County Administrative Board of Västra Götaland has proposed that the Government approve Freja Offshore's application to build the Mareld floating offshore wind farm, subject to certain adaptations.

Freja Offshore is a 50-50 joint venture between Mainstream Renewable Power and Swedish company Hexicon. Freja Offshore welcomes the announcement, which is a crucial step in delivering the wind farm into commercial operation.

Freja Offshore applied to build the 2.5 GW Mareld offshore wind farm, about 40 kilometers west of Lysekil. When fully developed, Mareld is expected to deliver 12 TeraWatt hours of electricity annually.  This additional electricity production is long-awaited throughout western Sweden, whose electricity demand is expected to double by 2030 as a result of industry's upcoming transition to electric power.

The Government had tasked the County Administrative Board of Västra Götaland with preparing the application to build Mareld, and today the County Administrative Board has returned with the recommendation that the wind farm should be approved subject to certain adaptations.  

During the preparation process the County Administrative Board made a recommendation for Freja to adjust the wind farm area size which has been agreed to, ensuring a sustainable co-existence with other important ocean users, such as commercial fishing and shipping.

Now the government will make its final decision on the application.

Carl Dandanell, CEO Freja Offshore, said: "The Mareld project has adjusted the wind farm to be able to coexist with other important societal interests and we are ready to continue to adapt to ensure that the whole is as good as possible. The entire team now look forward to the Government issuing their final decision so the project can move forward without delay.” 

In 2023, Freja submitted permit applications for its 2.5 GW Dyning floating offshore wind farm on Sweden’s east coast and its 2 GW Cirrus fixed-bottom offshore wind farm in the southern Sweden.