Innovative pilot projects on the Swedish islands are showing how the energy transition can be implemented, with the transport sector, in particular, leading the way to decarbonisation. Legislation has been broadly supportive of the decarbonisation of islands. However, challenges to the implementation of the energy transition still remain. Drawing upon the regulatory inventory of the current legislation, the Clean energy for EU islands secretariat carried out surveys and interviews with Swedish stakeholders to identify the barriers to clean energy deployment on the islands and the solutions to overcome those. These findings were discussed with all relevant stakeholders in two focus group meetings and a national stakeholder meeting (NSM).
The result of that process is described in this booklet. The barriers identified in Sweden relate to the need for increased visibility of island energy challenges, grid constraints, lengthy authorisation processes and the need for local stakeholder involvement in the process. These barriers can be overcome through the leadership of relevant national stakeholders, systemic analysis of island conditions, improved grid planning, the collaboration between sectors during planning, and implementation of innovative pilot projects and local involvement in the regulatory process. The recommendations in this booklet serve as guidance to accelerate the energy transition on the Swedish islands.