A NATO country rejected offshore wind farms it said could slow its response to a Russian missile attack

Windfarms near the Åland Islands in the Baltic Sea.

Sweden has quashed plans for 13 offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea over concerns that they could impede its response to a missile attack.

Sweden, which joined NATO earlier this year, shares a coast on the Baltic Sea with Russia.

“With war in close vicinity, Sweden finds itself in a serious security situation,” Pål Jonson, Sweden’s defense minister, wrote on X on Monday.

Jonson shared a graphic to illustrate how a cluster of wind turbines could impede the country’s ability to detect incoming cruise or ballistic missiles.

🇸🇪 government today decided to reject the applications of 13 offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea, while granting one (Poseidon) on the Swedish west coast. The reaction time in the event of a missile attack could go from 2 minutes to 60 seconds with wind farms in the way. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/reRTmJCAPz

— Pål Jonson (@PlJonson) November 4, 2024

A recent study produced by the Swedish Armed Forces concluded that an extra minute could be added to the country’s response time to an incoming missile due to the turbines, Swedish national broadcaster SVT reported.

It said that the towers and their blades produce radar echoes and interference both in the air and underwater, making missiles and submarines in their vicinity harder to detect.

Sweden’s accession to NATO earlier this year has seen it step up its military readiness in the Baltic, including beefing up security around the strategic island of Gotland.

Jonson, in his posts, said it was “important” to note Sweden’s proximity to “heavily militarized Kaliningrad” — a Russian exclave that borders Lithuania and Poland and has a coastline on the Baltic Sea.

Offshore wind power is a priority for Sweden’s government, Jonson told AFP.

The 13 wind farms would have been placed along Sweden’s eastern coast, stretching from the Åland archipelago in the north to Öresund in the south, outlet Yle reported.

The government did approve one farm, off Sweden’s western coast, it said.

Monday’s decision is a blow to Sweden’s renewable energy plans. A 2022 Swedish Energy Agency report seen by Reuters estimated that the country’s energy consumption could double by 2035.

Wind farms were seen as one of the major ways to plug that gap, Reuters reported.