In what is regarded as milestone decision Finish authorities granted the water permit to Suurhiekka offshore wind farm, the first full scale offshore project of the country. The project of 80 turbines has been developed by wpd since 2007 and aims for start of construction in 2014 – depending on the government’s decision on a support mechanism.
The water permit includes the decision on the environmental acceptance and has only to be completed by a technical approval prior to start of construction. The permit was granted by the Regional State Administrative Agency of Northern Finland yesterday.
The advanced stage of the Suurhiekka project puts the question of remuneration for offshore wind in the focus of Finish energy politics. Without offshore, Finland cannot reach its national goals for 2020 and a support for offshore wind is therefore under discussion.
“During the last four years we pushed the project through the various stages. We now ask for a debate on a remuneration model for offshore wind so that we reach the final stage: Suurhiekka offshore wind farm producing energy for 300 000 Finish households!”, comments Heli Rissanen, Deputy Managing Director of wpd Finland OY.
wpd Finland Oy is part of the wpd Group which has realized more than 2000 MW onshore wind power and is developing 16 offshore wind projects around Europe. Last year wpd built Germany’s first commercial offshore wind farm Baltic I.
Contact Information:
Achim Berge, Managing Director, wpd offshore GmbH
tel +46 73 600 31 70, a.berge (et) wpd.de
Heli Rissanen, Deputy Managing Director, wpd Finland Oy
tel +358 40 578 7584, h.rissanen (et) wpd.fi
www.wpd.de > Wind Offshore > Project Development > Finland
Suurhiekka
Suurhiekka offshore wind farm owned by wpd Finland Oy’s sister company Suurhiekka Offshore Oy would be built in the shallows of Suurhiekka, located about 25 km from the coast of Ii, in the Gulf of Bothnia. The project includes 80 wind turbines, 1¬-2 sea transform stations and sea cables. It also includes the construction of a about 15 km long 400 kV over head line to connect the wind farm to the national grid. The wind farm is estimated to produce even 1500 GWh of electricity per year which equals to the yearly consumption of about 300 000 non-electrically heated households.
wpd
wpd Finland Oy with headquarters in Espoo, is a subsidiary within wpd group a worldwide developer and operator of windfarms. In total, the company has carried out projects with around 1,600 turbines and an output of more than 2GW. Currently wpd is planning projects with 7,000 MW in total. More over, the group is Europe’s leading offshore developer with a pipeline of 10,000 MW. One of the first commercial offshore wind plants Baltic I, attended by wpd, has been built last year. wpd develops offshore projects in Germany, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, France and Italy. More information about wpd visit www.wpd.fi
