Finland Picks Developer of First Large-Scale Offshore Wind Farm

December 20, 2022, by Adnan Durakovic

Vattenfall has entered a joint venture with the Finnish state-owned enterprise, Metsähallitus, to build and operate Finland’s first major offshore wind farm.

The project, located at Korsnäs off the Finnish west coast, will have a capacity of 1.3 GW and a potential annual production of 5 TWh.

Vattenfall was selected in the first of a number of international offshore wind tenders to be carried out by Metsähallitus, which manages the land and water areas of the Finnish state.

”Vattenfall is a leading offshore wind developer in Europe. We are very honored to have been selected to develop Finland’s first large scale offshore wind farm. We are looking forward to bring our broad experience to the Korsnäs project, supporting Finland to reach their ambitious climate targets,” said Helene Biström, Head of Business Area Wind at Vattenfall.

Finland has set the goal to reach net zero emissions by 2035. As the steward of state-owned land and water areas, Metsähallitus plays a key role in achieving this goal, Vattenfall said

”We are very pleased to partner with Vattenfall, which presented strong experience on large-scale offshore wind projects together with sustainable business practices in addition to competitive commercial terms. We are confident that this project will benefit the people of Korsnäs, the economic zone around Vaasa as well as the state of Finland,” said Juha S. Niemelä, Director General of Metsähallitus.

The estimated investment value in the Korsnäs wind farm project is EUR 2-3 billion and the wind farm will be operational in the early 2030s.

Once complete, the Korsnäs wind farm will produce renewable energy equivalent to the annual consumption of more than two million apartment homes or the annual consumption of around 250,000 electricity heated individual houses in Finland, Vattenfall said.

”With this project, Vattenfall is expanding its role in Finland; from one of the largest electricity retailers to a significant renewable energy producer,” said Elina Kivioja, CEO at Vattenfall Oy.

Finland currently had 44.3 MW of operating offshore wind capacity at the Tahkoluoto wind farm off Pori. Commissioned in 2017, the wind farm is owned and operated by Suomen Hyötytuuli Oy. The company has announced plans to expand the wind farm by up to 500 MW.