The Swedish electricity group Vattenfall is stopping the development of a wind project off the coast of the United Kingdom, one of the largest in the country, because of soaring costs, dealing a blow to British ambitions in renewables. “Vattenfall is halting development of the Norfolk Boreas offshore wind project in the UK,” the group said in an earnings statement on Thursday.
“Wind power is essential for clean, safe and affordable electricity”, but “conditions are extremely difficult in the sector at the moment”, comments general manager Anna Borg in a statement received by AFP. She lists “a stressed supply chain, rising investment costs and fiscal frameworks that do not reflect current market realities.”
If the group, one of the main European producers of wind energy, “still believes in the fundamentals of projects in Norfolk”, in the east of England, “given the market conditions we are stopping the development of the Norfolk Boreas project and are reassessing the best way forward for the three projects” in this region, she concludes. The Swedish group already had a difficult year 2022 with a profit close to zero, with a heavy loss in the last quarter, due to significant asset write-downs linked to the energy crisis in Europe.
