Ecosystem services provided by the Baltic Sea ... - Naturvårdsverket

SWEDISH ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Report 5873 • Ecosystem services provided by the Baltic Sea and Skagerrak
Economic Marine Information
Besides cargo, the transport of passengers is extensive within the Baltic and
Skagerrak. For example, the Tallinn-Helsinki sea-line is one of the busiest
international passenger routes in the world. AS Tallink Group is one of the
largest passenger and cargo shipping companies in the Baltic Sea region. In
2006/2007 the number of passenger was 6 873 339, the number of employees
6 227 and their net profit was € 670 000 000 (203). During 2006 the even larger
shipping company Stena Line transported approximately 11 500 000 passengers
within the Baltic Sea and Skagerrak (204).
Offshore wind power
Recent environmental awareness resulting particularly from the threat of global
climate change has pushed renewable sources of energy towards the top of the
power agenda. This has contributed towards promoting wind power as the most
cost effective of the renewable technologies. Today 93.8 GW, or > 1 % of global
electricity, is produced by wind power plants (205). However, if wind power is to
become a significant source of energy, worldwide as well as in our region, single
plants are not enough. Instead, large-scale wind parks located offshore are frequently
discussed. Not only is space plentiful at sea, but wind energy is also significantly
greater than inland. In order not to conflict with shipping, tourism and
nature conservation interests, developers typically plan their parks tens of kilometres
off the coast.
Among the countries bordering to the Baltic Sea and Skagerrak, wind power development
varies. Denmark has the highest number of plants per capita acquiring
20 % of power from wind parks (with direct consequences for the emissions of
CO 2 ). Six of Denmark’s wind parks are situated offshore. Besides Denmark, Germany
is investing considerably in wind power, including offshore wind farms.
The German government estimates that the offshore capacity will have reached
3000 MW in 2010. However, out of 16 granted permits for offshore wind parks
(including parks in the North Sea), none has yet been completed. In contrast to
other countries, Germany aims to concentrate offshore wind power in the EEZ,
located far beyond the coastal regions, which puts high technical demands on construction
and operation (206).
In Sweden, investment in wind power has not been prioritized and currently only
approximately 800 wind power plants are running. A power plant of 1 MW produces
approximately the yearly household electricity for 500 Swedish houses. The
equivalent amount produced by non-renewable sources would cause the mining of
almost 1000 tons of coal/year, the emission of 2500 ton CO 2 , 3 tonnes of SO 2 as
well as 2.5 tons NO 2 (207). Given the EU objective that 20 % of Sweden’s energy
should be derived from renewable energy sources in 2020, and that this should be
accommodated wind power, Sweden will need to increase its wind power capacity
to 3000 - 6000 plants. This corresponds to 30 TW, among which one third might
become situated offshore (208). For example, a 128-turbin wind park is currently
under development at Kriegers Flak between Sweden and Germany. The Swedish
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