Fortum Joins With Metsähallitu for Finnish Wind Farm

Fortum and Metsähallitus have announced a joint endeavor in the wind power project located in northern Finland in the Kuolavaara-Keulakkopää region. The project incorporates roughly 18 separate generating stations each which have a capacity of 2-3 MW. 

Once completed the overall wind farm will have a total capacity of 100 - 120 GWh of generated electricity which would provide for roughly 40 percent of the energy needs for nearby Kittilä and Sodankylä counties.

Currently the project is awaiting an assessment from the environmental impact agency which is scheduled to review the facility this fall. For now, wind measurements are being taken and technical pre-planning is ongoing and will continue until physical construction onsite begins. Once feasability studies are finished and necessary permits have been acquired, wind power production should begin at the Kuolavaara-Keulakkopää facility sometime in 2013.

The location for the anticipated wind power plant has been earmarked in the draft regional land use report of Mountain Lapland indicating it as a good spot for harnessing wind power, additionally it was also marked in the regional land use plan for Northern Lapland as well.

Fortum and Nordisk Vindkraft have also signed an agreement which will see Fortum managing a grid for Nordisk Vindkraft’s Havsnäs Wind Farm. The contract will give Fortum the responsibility of maintenance and operation for at least three years.

Havsnäs Wind Farm, which is located near Stromsund in Sweden is the country’s largest onshore wind facility and boasts 48 turbines with a total running capacity of 95 MW.