SWEDEN

Maria Olsson Swedish Energy Agency

SUPPORTING POLICIES FOR OCEAN ENERGY

NATIONAL STRATEGY

In December 2019 Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management submitted the Swedish marine spatial plan proposals to the Swedish government. The government shall adopt plans by March 2021 the latest. Marine spatial planning will form part of the basis for agency and municipality decisions regarding the most appropriate usage of a marine area, considering the character and location of the area and the needs that exist. Ocean energy is mentioned in the plans, mainly as the need of test sites.

In 2016, the Government together with several other political parties agreed on a long-term bipartisan energy policy for Sweden. The agreement includes a target of 100% renewable electricity production by 2040 and no net emissions of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by 2045. Furthermore, a new Climate Act was introduced in 2018 which states that each government has an obligation to pursue a climate policy based on the climate goals adopted by the Riksdag.

Additionally, in 2015, the Ministry of Enterprises, Energy and Communications enacted a national maritime strategy¹⁾, which identifies areas where action is needed to promote a sustainable development in the Swedish maritime sector. Ocean energy is one of many areas included. There is no national energy policy specifically for ocean energy.

MARKET INCENTIVES

The long-term Swedish energy policy relies on economic policy instruments, including a carbon tax, international emissions trading and a renewable electricity certificate system. All these instruments provide incentives for renewable energy and do not specifically target a particular renewable electricity conversion technology, i.e. they are technology neutral. There are no instruments in place to specifically incentivise ocean energy deployment.

PUBLIC FUNDING PROGRAMMES

Swedish governmental agencies support academic and private sector R&D at various stages of technology maturity. Funding providers include:

The Swedish Energy Agency, www.energimyndigheten.se, is responsible for facilitating a sustainable energy system in Sweden. As such, the agency funds research, business and technology development and technology demonstration relevant to the sustainability of the energy system and the energy industry sectors.
The Swedish Research Council, www.vr.se, which, among other things, is tasked to fund fundamental research and expensive equipment for research purposes within a number of topic areas.
The Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA), www.vinnova.se, supports business and technology development.

In addition, regional authorities may also grant funding.

In 2018, a new phase of the Swedish Energy Agency´s national ocean energy programme was started. The activities and priorities of the programme are guided by the Swedish Energy Agency’s strategy for research and support to ocean energy which was finalised in 2017 and is available on the website²⁾. The programme will run from 2018-2024 and has a total budget of around €10,2 million. A first call for proposals has been held and decisions on which projects to fund are being finalised. The programme is intended to support research, experimental development and demonstration of technical solutions within the following focus areas:

Improved knowledge regarding environmental impact during installation, operation and decommissioning;
Improved reliability and durability;
Development of systems, subsystems and components for cost-effective conversion of marine energy;
Technical solutions for cost-effective electrical systems;
Improved installation, operation and maintenance strategies.

The Swedish Energy Agency is also involved in OCEANERA-Net Cofund, which is a collaboration between national/regional funding organisations and EU to support the ocean energy sector and fund transnational projects. A second call for proposals was opened in January 2019.

1) A summary in English can be found here: http://www.government.se/contentassets/9e9c9007f0944165855630ab4f59de01/a-swedish-maritime-strategy--for-people-jobs-and-the-environment

2) http://www.energimyndigheten.se/nyhetsarkiv/2017/energimyndigheten-antar-strategi-for-havsenergi/

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