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Vattenfall wants to build Finland’s first wind farm in Korsnäs

The Norwegian Forest Agency’s plans for an open sea wind farm, the first of its kind in Finland, are moving forward. Vattenfall has now been selected as the partner for the development and construction of the wind farm, the parties announced Tuesday.

The wind farm will have a capacity of 1.3 gigawatts, about the same as the 1.6 gigawatt Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor. The capacity corresponds to 40 percent of Finland’s current wind capacity.

Annual production is estimated at 5,000 GWh, which corresponds to the average consumption of more than 2 million apartments, according to the Norwegian Forest Agency. It will take until the 2030s before a wind farm is ready.

The wind farm is being built about 15 kilometers from the coast in Korsnäs, which is about 40 kilometers south of Vaasa. The depth of the sea at the site ranges between 15 and 30 metres.

It is already known that the Norwegian Forest Agency is planning an offshore wind farm in Kournas. The reason for choosing the partner in Vattenfall in particular is that the Swedish company has strong experience in large-scale offshore wind combined with competitive commercial conditions, the forestry agency wrote in its press release.

Vattenfall, wholly owned by the Swedish state, has built, among other things, a 600-megawatt wind farm off the Danish coast. Last year, construction began on another large offshore wind farm, with a capacity of 1.5 gigawatts, in the Netherlands.

Vattenfall is one of the leading developers of offshore wind energy in Europe. We are honored that the Norwegian Forest Agency has chosen Vattenfall as a partner for Finland’s first large-scale offshore wind farm, he says Helen Bystromhead of Vattenfall’s wind energy sector, when presenting the project to the press on Tuesday.

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Vattenfall will lease the offshore area from the Norwegian Forest Agency and finance the construction themselves. In a press release, the forest agency writes that it is “convinced that the project benefits the people of Kournas, the Vaasa region and the rest of Finland.”

“Local cooperation is critical”

Wind power plans usually arouse local resentment in parts of the population. In Korsnäs, two resident initiatives related to wind energy were discussed in the council earlier this year, which Vasabladet reported on.

Local cooperation is crucial to the project, says Helen Bystrom during the press conference.

– We’re working on this with the district. I can’t say exactly what our plan is for how that turns out, but we’re always in discussions with the local community.

Korsnäs municipality manager also commented in the press release Christina Basar news.

“The selection of Vattenfall as a partner for the planned offshore wind farm is a very positive step forward. At Korsnäs, we are proud to be involved in such a large and important project for Finland. We welcome Vattenfall to Korsnäs and look forward to the progress of the project,” says Båssar in the press release.