Green certificates a Swedish success

By 2002, wind power in Sweden and Norway was less than 0.5 TWh, far behind Denmark’s 4.4 TWh. In 2003, green certificates  were introduced, first in Sweden and later also in Norway. A growing percentage of electricity was required to be new and green, paid for by electricity consumers. This created a steady income for wind power.
When the certificate system was introduced, environmental NGOs often compared it unfavourably to the German feed-in tariffs, which give a much greater incentive for technological development of wind and solar. The Swedish-Norwegian system has demonstrated another advantage: to get high volumes of green power at a low cost.
The system was a political compromise and produced windfalls for biopower and even peat.

But after a few years wind power was the main way to get certificates. Wind power took off: 1 TWh in 2006; 7 TWh in 2013; 18 TWh in 2017; and 28 TWh in 2020 in Sweden, and 10 in Norway. Wind now covers some 20 per cent of electric consumption.

The certificate prices were initially high, at about €30/MWh. Then prices fell, and in 2019 they crashed to near zero.

The system has done its job and is no longer needed.

Wind power keeps growing fast, with 47 TWh projected  for Sweden in 2024. Solar is also growing, but due to different policies.

Fredrik Lundberg