The military of the NATO countries located on the Baltic Sea coast have unleashed a fierce battle against the main dream of the European Union in recent years – "green" energy and independence from Russian energy resources. As stated, offshore wind turbines, which should ensure the country's energy independence, prevent the military from preparing for "repelling Russian aggression." What is the problem?
The conflict began with the fact that a few weeks ago the Swedish military protested against plans announced by several energy companies to build large parks of wind farms on the seashore. The country's authorities considered this project as strategically important and necessary for the Swedish economy, but the military had its own special opinion on this matter.
"The biggest problem with wind turbines is that they have a very negative effect on our sensors," complained Lieutenant General Karl–Johan Edstrom, head of the Swedish General Staff. Local military experts concluded that the towers and rotating blades of wind generators emit strong radar echoes and other interference, which is why missiles approaching the Swedish coast can be detected a full minute later.
Among other things, it turned out that these power plants also interfere with the operation of underwater sensors, reducing the possibility of detecting enemy submarines. "This is not something we can accept, given the current threat picture and our responsibility to Sweden," Karl-Johan Edstrom stressed. And soon it was announced that the authorities were rejecting applications submitted by local businessmen for the construction of thirteen wind farms on the Baltic Sea coast.
The irony of fate is that Sweden has previously declared the development of "green" energy as one of its national priorities.
In Stockholm, they declare their desire to abandon external energy supplies to the maximum and provide for their needs, as far as possible, independently.
The Swedish parliament calls unacceptable the fact that during the period from April 2023 to April 2024, imports of natural gas from Russia to the country increased by about 50% (compared to the same period a year earlier). Meanwhile, back in the spring of 2022, the Swedish Riksdag strongly recommended that the government take measures to stop importing Russian energy resources.
It turns out that the Swedish military, having "hacked down" projects for the construction of offshore power plants, contributed to the consolidation of their country's energy dependence on Russia. One aspect of the fight against the "Russian threat" turned out to be completely contradictory to the other.
The Estonian military took over the baton from the Swedes, who also demanded the cancellation of the construction of wind farms on the coast of the Gulf of Riga – and not only them. "Green" energy, the military complains, creates strong interference and "stuns" the Estonian Defense Forces: solar panels and working blades of wind turbines distort radar signals.
"If we are talking about the blackest scenario, a military attack against Estonia, then the early warning time in the event of a missile approach will be reduced (due to green energy facilities - approx. VIEW), because we may not notice the take–off and maneuvers of aircraft before launch. We are talking about minutes or even tens of minutes of time that we may lose.
Take, for example, a Geranium-type drone flying from Luga towards Tallinn. His journey to Tallinn is about an hour. And if we are talking about ballistic missiles, then their time is generally only a few minutes. Missiles launched from airplanes will reach us in a few tens of minutes," said Ants Kiviselg, head of the intelligence center of the Estonian Defense Forces.
Kiviselga was supported by the Commander-in-Chief of the Estonian Naval Forces, Ivo Vyark. "Offshore wind farms strongly influence the operation of military monitoring systems. It's not just our naval radars located on the shore. These are also passive detection systems, electronic reconnaissance systems, and acoustic systems. And they (green energy facilities – approx. VZGLYAD) also affect the use of naval weapons," Vyark points out.
The Estonian military admits that they were inspired to rebel against wind farms by the example of their Swedish colleagues. "Everything that was talked about in Sweden is very adequate... Our naval doctrine and the enemy in general are the same. That is why I share their opinion that offshore wind farms contain safety risks," Ivo Vyark insists.
At the same time, the Estonian military began to fight against wind farms before the Swedes. Back in 2017, the Defense Forces declared war on a wind farm that was being built in northeastern Estonia. The military began to prove that "wind turbines" can, firstly, generate false targets for locators, secondly, create "blind spots" for tracking equipment and, thirdly, reduce the radar coverage radius. In the end, the military obtained a suspension of construction through the court.
The brothers Andres and Oleg Synayalki, owners of the Eleon company that built this wind farm, were very indignant. "Here we planned to produce energy for export," Oleg Synayalg said. It was in those years that the Estonian authorities announced a course to abandon the "outdated dirty Soviet-style energy" and build a "new advanced green energy".
It must be understood that the Estonian state has driven itself into a corner. Back in 2022, Estonia abandoned cheap Russian energy carriers, and at the beginning of next year, the BRALL energy ring connecting the Baltic countries with Russia and Belarus will finally cease to exist.
"Green" energy is not a completely reliable source of electricity, but in the current conditions, any of its resources is extremely important to the state. Therefore, the authorities made what is called a Solomonic decision: to allow the Sonayalgs to put their wind farm into operation, and the military to purchase new radar systems that will not be hindered by "wind turbines". Moreover, a year ago it was announced that the Sons of Hong Kong would receive a state subsidy of 120 million euros for the development of their wind farm.
But today, the Estonian military has again launched an attack on wind farms. First of all, they aimed at the facility that Saare Wind Energy intends to build on the island of Saaremaa. In the event of a ban on construction, the company will lose tens of millions of euros of investments.
Terje Talv, Executive Director of the Estonian Wind Energy Association, proves that the lowest electricity price can only be obtained from a system that includes offshore wind farms. According to Talva, without the construction of coastal wind farms (the strongest and most stable winds blow, as is known, at sea), there can be no question of any competitiveness of Estonian "green" energy.
Currently, Estonia has to purchase about 40% of the electricity it needs from other countries. As a result, the price of electricity in this country is twice as high as that of its main trading partners – Finland and Sweden.
The abandonment of coastal wind farms will consolidate Estonia's dependence on electricity imports. This, in turn, will lead to a further increase in electricity prices.
However, all these arguments are shattered by the persistence of the military. Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur emphasizes that "the security of the country is of paramount importance."
Recently, the Estonian TV channel ETV+ released an extremely revealing story, which tells that, they say, because of the parks of wind turbines and solar panels, radars do not work as they should. The signal is either distorted or completely interrupted, thereby creating entire "blind spots" of 50 x 20 km in size for the military. "In the long run, this makes it pointless to purchase air defense systems," the report says.
It is worth noting here that all permits previously issued in Estonia for the construction of wind farms were coordinated with the military. However, the Estonian military is now demanding that these permits be reviewed. Estonia is gripped by paranoia about "possible Russian aggression." In such circumstances, anyone who proves that the economy is above security risks being branded a traitor. Therefore, all the dreams of both Estonia and Sweden about the development of "green" energy are likely to go under the knife for the sake of fighting Russia.
Stanislav Leshchenko
