European Utility Firm Vattenfall to Build Finland’s First Large Offshore Wind Farm Korsnäs

Swedish state-owned power conglomerate, Vattenfall has said that it has entered into a joint venture with Metsähallitus,  is a state owned enterprise of Finland, to build and operate Finland’s first major offshore wind farm.

The official statement by Vattenfall held that 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.

Helene Biström, Head of Business Area Wind at Vattenfall, said, “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.”

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

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.

“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,” says Juha S. Niemelä, Director General of Metsähallitus.

Korsnäs wind farm will attract an estimated investment value of EUR 2-3 billion and the wind farm will be operational in the early 2030s.

The company said that upon completion, 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 claims to be a leading European energy company, that for more than 100 years has electrified industries, supplied energy to people’s homes and modernised the way of living through innovation and cooperation. Vattenfall wants to make fossil-free living possible within one generation. IT has key operations in Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and the UK. The energy firm, headquartered in Sweden, recently completed the acquisition of 400-MW pumped hydro storage plant in Germany.