Finnish renewable energy investor Korkia has secured a key environmental permit to develop one of Scandinavia’s largest hybrid renewable energy sites, marking a significant milestone for solar deployment in a region traditionally dominated by wind and hydro.
The approval, granted by the County Administrative Board of Dalarna to Korkia Renewables Development Sweden, will allow the company to construct a 150-MWp solar photovoltaic plant alongside a 150-MW/600-MWh battery energy storage system, BESS, in the Vilmoren forest area of Dalarna county.
The Smedjebacken Project: Scale and Output
Collectively known as the Smedjebacken project, the integrated facility is designed to maximize grid stability and energy output. Once commissioned, the solar array is expected to generate approximately 150 GWh of clean electricity annually, enough to power tens of thousands of Swedish households.
The co-located 150-MW/600-MWh battery system will store excess solar generation during peak daylight hours and discharge it during periods of high demand or low sunlight, helping to balance the grid and reduce curtailment risks.
Korkia confirmed that the project has already secured a grid connection agreement with the local network operator. With the environmental permit now in hand, the development is advancing toward “ready-to-build” status, with final investment decisions and engineering work expected next.
A Rare Approval in Scandinavia
According to Korkia, permits for utility-scale solar and storage hybrids remain uncommon across Scandinavia. The region’s renewable pipeline has historically focused onshore wind and hydropower, while large solar farms have faced regulatory, climatic, and land-use hurdles.
The Smedjebacken approval therefore stands out as one of the few projects of comparable scale to clear environmental review in Sweden. Korkia said the decision signals growing regulatory openness to diversifying Sweden’s clean energy mix and integrating more dispatchable solar capacity to complement intermittent wind resources.
“The hybrid model is critical for the next phase of the energy transition here,” a Korkia spokesperson noted. “Pairing solar with long-duration storage allows us to deliver reliable, carbon-free power even in a northern latitude.”
Part of a Broader Global Permitting Push
The Swedish milestone caps an active first half of 2026 for Korkia across its international portfolio. The company reported several other permitting successes earlier this year, underscoring its expansion strategy beyond the Nordics.
Those wins included environmental approvals for two separate solar projects in Alberta, Canada, a new substation development in Chile to support grid integration, and a series of licenses for both solar and storage projects in Romania.
With Smedjebacken now permitted, Korkia is positioning the site as a flagship example of how hybrid solar-plus-storage can be deployed at scale in markets where such projects are still emerging. Construction timelines will depend on final financing and procurement, but the firm says it is moving quickly to keep the project on track for delivery in the coming years.
As Sweden looks to meet its long-term decarbonization targets, the Smedjebacken hybrid plant could help set a precedent for more large-scale solar and storage development across the wider Nordic region.
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