Vattenfall, the Sweden-based multinational power company, will build and operate Finland’s first gigascale offshore wind farm as part of a joint venture with Finnish state-owned seabed and forest management group Metsähallitus.
The project announced Dec. 20 is the 1.3-GW Korsnäs plant in the Bay of Bothnia, which sits between Sweden and Finland in the Baltic Sea. The plant will be located off the west coast of Finland, about 250 miles south of the Arctic Circle.
“We are very honored to have been selected to develop Finland’s first large-scale offshore wind farm,” said Helene Biström, head of the wind business area at Vattenfall. She added that Vattenfall would “bring our broad experience to the Korsnäs project, supporting Finland to reach their ambitious climate targets.”
Elina Kivioja, chief executive at Vattenfall’s Finnish unit, said the project will enable the company to expand its role as a producer of renewable energy, in addition to its present status as one of the largest electricity retailers.
Finland also, like other European nations, wants to expand its renewable energy resources to replace energy imports from Russia, which have been cut due to Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine.