Vestas, Vattenfall and PKA to develop 353 MW wind farm in Sweden

This article is part of a daily series of IPP articles. If you want to know more about the latest power generation projects globally visit our IPP Today section. You can receive them by email on a daily basis.

Vattenfall has announced that Vestas and PKA, the Danish pension fund, are investing in the Blakliden/Fäbodberget wind project in Sweden. The project involves the development of two wind farms in Västerbotten County in the north of the country, with a combined generation capacity of 353 MW.

The Blakliden wind farm will be installed in the Åsele municipality with 50 turbines. The Fäbodberget wind farm, located in the Åsele and Lycksele municipalities, will contain 34 turbines. Together, the two farms will generate enough renewable energy to supply 220,000 Swedish homes with electricity.

Vestas and PKA have signed share purchase agreements for 40% and 30% ownership stakes of the project, respectively, leaving Vattenfall  with the remaining 30% equity. This marks PKA’s first investment in onshore wind.

Vestas will also provide the turbines for the project, 353 MW of its V136-4.2 MW model. The order includes supply and installation of the wind turbines as well as a 25-year Active Output Management (AOM 5000) service contract. Turbine delivery is expected to begin in first half of 2021 with full commissioning planned for the fourth quarter of 2021.

The project’s total construction cost is around EUR350 million (US$413.15 million). It will be partially funded by non-recourse project financing with financial close expected to be finalised in the coming months. Following this, a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Norsk Hydro will be closed. The company will purchase around 60% of the project's output.

The construction phase of the project is now starting. Once operational, it will be one of Sweden's largest onshore wind farms and the largest wind project in Vattenfall's portfolio.