As of June 2026, the Aurora offshore wind farm, OX2 and Ingka Investments’ proposed 5.5 GW project between the islands of Gotland and Öland in the Baltic Sea, has been blocked by the Swedish government and remains without a construction permit. On 4 November 2024 the government refused permission under the Swedish Economic Zone Act, ending the optimistic timeline that had followed the project’s earlier environmental clearance. The refusal rested not on environmental or technical grounds but on national defence. Aurora was the largest of a group of thirteen Baltic schemes turned down on the same day, representing a combined pipeline of close to 32 GW.
Defence Concerns Behind the Aurora Wind Farm Decision
Defence Minister Pål Jonson said the Swedish Armed Forces had concluded that turbines across the central and southern Baltic would bring unacceptable consequences for the country’s ability to defend itself. According to the government, the structures would interfere with the detection of incoming missiles and the tracking of submarine activity, and ministers noted that Stockholm sits only about 500 kilometres from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Jonson stated the farms could cut the warning time before a missile strike to as little as one minute. Energy and Business Minister Ebba Busch acknowledged it was a tough message for the renewable sector. The decision followed a fresh analysis requested from the armed forces amid the heightened security situation in the region.
What the Rejection Means for Swedish Offshore Wind
The Aurora refusal reshaped Sweden’s offshore wind outlook. Of the fourteen projects assessed in the November 2024 round, only Poseidon, a west coast scheme developed by a Vattenfall and Zephyr venture in electricity area three, was approved, leaving the bulk of the Baltic pipeline stranded. The contrast with Sweden’s parallel nuclear push is stark, since the same west coast region is now set to host three Rolls-Royce SMR reactors at the Värö Peninsula, a baseload scheme the government has actively backed even as the Baltic wind pipeline stalls. For OX2 and Ingka Investments, the ruling froze one of the largest single elements of their Swedish portfolio and confirmed that defence policy, rather than permitting science, has become the binding constraint on Baltic offshore wind.
Aurora Offshore Wind Farm Next Steps and Outlook
Ten further offshore applications remained on the government’s desk after the November 2024 decision, and ministers commissioned an investigation into a new model for offshore wind development, with proposals expected at the end of 2025. That review is central to whether projects in sensitive or protected zones can be revived under revised siting or technical rules. OX2 has continued to advance less contested schemes, including its west coast Galene project, while the future of Aurora itself depends on any shift in the defence assessment or a redesign the armed forces would accept. No revised construction start or generation date has been confirmed.
Project Overview
- Project Name: Aurora Offshore Wind Farm
- Location: Baltic Sea, about 22 km south of Gotland and 30 km east of Öland, Sweden
- Developer/Owner: OX2 and Ingka Investments
- Total Cost/Value: Not disclosed
- Scale/Capacity: Up to 5,500 MW (5.5 GW) across up to 370 turbines of up to 370 m in height, with potential output of about 24 TWh per year
- Construction Start: Previously targeted for 2028; on hold following permit refusal
- Expected Completion: Previously expected to be fully built by 2035; not confirmed
- Funding/Financing: Not disclosed
- Current Status: Permit refused by the Swedish government on 4 November 2024 on national defence grounds
- Key Milestone: Natura 2000 permit granted in April 2024 and County Administrative Board approval recommended in May 2024, before the government rejection in November 2024
Project Team
- OX2: Developer
- Ingka Investments: Co developer and investor, the investment arm of Ingka Group, the largest IKEA retailer
- County Administrative Board of Gotland: Regional permitting authority
- Swedish Government: Permit decision authority, which refused the application
- Swedish Armed Forces: Defence assessment authority
- NIRAS: Marine biological and environmental consultant
Reported 14th April 2024: The 5.5GW Aurora offshore wind farm project has reportedly received environmental approval or rather Natura 2000 permit from the County Administrative Board of Gotland, Sweden. This is a permit that indicates that the proposed renewable energy project is compatible with the Natura 2000 network.
The latter is a network of protected areas covering Europe’s most valuable and threatened species and habitats. It is reportedly the largest coordinated network of protected areas in the world, cutting across all the 27 European Union (EU) Member States, both on land and at sea. The sites within the Natura 2000 are designated under the Birds and the Habitats Directives.
The next step according to OX2 is for the County Administrative Board to propose to the government that the Aurora offshore wind farm can be built according to the Act of Sweden’s exclusive economic zone. OX2 is one of Europe’s leading renewable energy companies that develops, constructs, and manages among others onshore wind, offshore wind, solar, and energy storage system projects.
The company is working on the project with Ingka Investments, a corporate venture arm of Ingka Group that invests in treasury asset management, business development and digitalization, renewable sources, forestry, and circular economy.
Start of construction of the Aurora offshore wind farm
The Natura 2000 permit is one of several permits that OX2 and Ingka Investments need to have before the Aurora offshore wind farm project gets off the ground. The developers are however confident that they will receive all the required documentation and that construction could start in 2028.
The facility will be built approximately 20 kilometres from the island of Gotland and 30 kilometres from the Island of Öland on the Baltic Sea. It will comprise up to 370 wind turbines, with a maximum height of 370 meters, mounted on fixed-type foundations.
The first generation at the Aurora offshore wind farm is expected to begin approximately two years after the actual construction works of the Aurora offshore wind farm begin (i.e. in 2030). Generating 24 terawatt hours of electricity the facility will supply 5 million Swedish homes or about 17 per cent of the total electricity consumed in Sweden per annum.
Other than electricity generation, the power plant which will be one of the largest of its kind in the world, will offset 14,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) a year. Furthermore, since the Baltic Sea is an area of importance for the Swedish Armed Forces, with the help of sensors on the turbines the wind farm could assist with surveillance and control in the area according to the developers.
Speaking on the significance of the power plant, Emelie Zakrisson, the OX2’s Head of Development of Offshore Wind in Sweden said that it can really make a real difference and act as a motor in the net zero transition in the southern parts of Sweden.
“The large-scale production from Aurora offshore wind farm will facilitate for more local electricity production to be developed as well as hydrogen production to help decarbonize industry and heavy transports,” concluded Zakrisson.
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