Offshore Construction Start

DELAYED +1yr (Apr 2026): Original documentation and Vattenfall statements cited in industry and stakeholder sources (e.g. SFPO quoting Vattenfall) indicated that installation of Kattegatt Syd, including export cables, could start around 2028, with the project in operation in the early 2030s. However, subsequent developments have undermined that timetable. In 2023 the Swedish government decided that Svenska kraftnät will no longer finance offshore grid connections, shifting full connection costs to developers. Vattenfall’s head of wind, Helene Biström, is quoted as saying there are "very small possibilities" to proceed towards an investment decision according to the original schedule without a rapid solution for grid connection. As of 2026, no FID or major construction contracts have been announced for Kattegatt Syd, and parliamentary debates describe Swedish offshore projects as effectively paused or slowed by policy uncertainty. Given this context, a 2028 offshore construction start now appears optimistic. The start of offshore construction (including export cable installation) is therefore pushed back by roughly one year to 2029, still consistent with Vattenfall’s broad "early 2030s" in-service target but more realistic given delayed FID and grid policy uncertainty. --- According to Vattenfall’s Espoo consultation documentation, installation of the Kattegat(t) Syd project, including offshore works such as export cables in the export cable corridor, is planned to start in 2028; these works form the offshore construction phase of the Kattegat Syd Export grid connection linking the wind farm to the Swedish transmission grid.