Fortum is growing its wind power portfolio in the Nordics with two newly commissioned wind power parks, Kalax in Finland and Sørfjord in Norway.
Both are now producing clean energy for the Nordic market. According to the company’s new joint strategy with Uniper, wind power will be one of the key growth areas in the future.
Kalax in Närpes, on the west coast of Finland, is Fortum’s first large-scale wind park in Finland. The Kalax wind park’s total capacity is 90 MW and, with its annual production exceeding 0.3 TWh, it has the highest annual production of all wind parks commissioned in Finland in 2020. The construction was finished on schedule and according to the plans.
The wind park is jointly owned by Energy Infrastructure Partners (EIP) and Fortum, and Fortum took over responsibility for asset management of the wind park after commissioning. 70% of the renewable wind power it produces is sold directly to the Finnish energy company Neste through a long-term agreement.
“I am extremely proud of the Kalax wind farm and the excellent work our teams and our contractors did to finish this wind park safely, on schedule, and in active cooperation with our neighbours and other stakeholders in the area. Kalax is a significant milestone for us as we are targeting to build more wind parks not only in Finland but also more widely in Europe”, says Joonas Rauramo, VP of Fortum’s Wind Power Business.
Sørfjord located in a remote area in north-western Norway, in Hamarøy region, is a large, 99-MW wind park. The construction on top of a mountain was an extraordinary project requiring extensive planning. As agreed in December 2019, EIP, on behalf of its clients, invested in an 80% share of the wind park after commissioning, and the wind park joined Fortum and EIP’s joint portfolio on 20 January 2021 with Fortum taking a role in asset management of the wind park.
“We are very pleased that this milestone has been achieved, especially considering the unusual working environment due to Covid-19. We look forward to continuing our close partnership with Fortum and could not be prouder of what the team has achieved”, commented Thorsten Helms, Asset Owner at EIP.
In Fortum’s updated strategy, published in December, wind power and other CO2-free sources of energy play a significant role.
Fortum is currently developing new opportunities for wind power in Finland, Sweden, and Norway. In Russia, Fortum is the largest producer of wind power.
In cooperation with its subsidiary Uniper, Fortum will be looking for opportunities to develop wind power also in other European countries.
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