Van Oord acquires stake in 1 GW offshore wind farm in Estonia

Van Oord has acquired a stake in the Estonian offshore wind developer Saare Wind Energy. Saare Wind Energy is developing the 1 GW Saaremaa offshore wind farm at an area covering up to 200 square kilometers south-west of the Estonian island Saaremaa. The development of the wind farm started in 2015. 

In January 2020, Saare Wind Energy and Van Oord agreed to cooperate on the Saaremaa offshore wind farm project. The Netherlands Embassy in Tallinn and the Estonian Investment Agency supported the initiative for this collaboration. The collaboration with Van Oord allows Saare Wind Energy to intensify the development process for the offshore wind farm, as financial support and knowledge are combined. 

On September 30 2020, the energy ministers of Poland, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany and Sweden, along with representatives of European Commission signed the ‘Baltic declaration for offshore wind energy’. A joint declaration on the development of offshore wind power and an efficient electricity infrastructure to facilitate the transmission of renewable energy to the Baltic Sea countries. The declaration is intended to bring about cooperation in the development of offshore wind power on the Baltic Sea. Hybrid projects, offshore wind farms in combination with interconnectors to neighboring countries, will become major footholds for the development of this offshore electricity infrastructure. This marks a change in offshore wind from separate offshore wind farms towards meshed offshore networks and energy hubs.

The Saaremaa offshore wind farm location offers a unique opportunity for such a hybrid project. The combination of good wind resources, an offshore wind location in line with the Marine Spatial Plan and the opportunity to develop interconnectors across the Baltic Sea to Sweden and Latvia, give Estonia the opportunity to take first steps in implementing the vision of the Baltic Sea declaration.