Ecogain has investigated the conditions for large-scale wind power and solar energy in Varberg municipality, as a basis for the municipality's future master plan. Today, there are 16 wind turbines and four solar energy plants in operation. The need for electricity is expected to increase sharply, which means that the municipality needs to identify sites for new electricity production in a new master plan.
Varberg has many values linked to natural and cultural environments, the population's living environment, tourism, food production and other important societal functions. This means that complex considerations are needed for all areas that may be relevant for wind power and solar energy and it is a great challenge to find possible locations.
Ecogain's task was to identify suitable areas based on a large amount of geographical data. For wind power, both onshore and offshore areas were analyzed, and for solar energy, the goal was to find sites for large-scale plants with an output of 20 to 150 MW.
In total, 14 areas have been identified for wind power and seven areas for large-scale solar energy that can now be further explored in municipal planning.
The report can be downloaded from the municipality's website.