Metsähallitus has reached an agreement with Vattenfall for the development and construction of Finland’s first offshore wind project in the open sea area. The wind farm – with a planning capacity of 1.3 GW and a potential annual production of 5 TWh – will be located at Korsnäs, on the west coast of the country. It will be operational in 2030s.
Finland has set the goal of being carbon neutral by 2035 and carbon negative soon after that. As the steward of state-owned land and water areas, Metsähallitus plays a key role in achieving this goal.
“Korsnäs offshore project is a most important new opening towards Finland’s climate goals as well as electricity supply. Vattenfall presents strong experience on large-scale offshore wind together with sustainable business practices and competitive commercial terms. We strongly believe 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.
“The first offshore auction process is now completed, and we will continue with the next projects in the pipeline for international auctions in 2023” says Juha S. Niemelä.
“Vattenfall is one of the leading offshore wind developers in Europe. We are very honored that Metsähallitus has selected Vattenfall as partner for their first large scale offshore wind farm. Vattenfall is strongly committed to bring in our broad expertise to the Korsnäs wind farm, supporting Finland on their journey to a fossil free living,” says Helene Biström, Head of Business Area Wind at Vattenfall.
“Vattenfall has redeemed its role as a partner of Finns as one of the largest electricity retailers. With this project, we are expanding our role from an electricity retailer to a significant renewable energy producer in Finland,” says Elina Kivioja, CEO at Vattenfall Oy.
“Selecting Vattenfall as the partner for the planned offshore wind farm is a very positive step forward. In Korsnäs we are proud to be part of this project which is very important for Finland. We warmly welcome Vattenfall to Korsnäs and look forward to the progress of the project”, says Christina Båssar, Mayor of Korsnäs municipality.
For additional information:
Otto Swanljung, Wind Power Manager, Metsähallitus Property Development,
tel. +358 206 394 643, email: otto.swanljung@metsa.fi
Timo Laakso, Project Leader, Metsähallitus Property Development, tel. +358 40 351 8366, email: timo.laakso@metsa.fi
Johan Sennerö, Press Officer, Vattenfall, tel. +46 73 046 40 45,
email: johan.senneroe@vattenfall.com
Hanna Kaurala, Communications Manager, Metsähallitus, tel. +358 40 350 4947,
email: hanna.kaurala@metsa.fi
MEDIA CONFERENCE/WEBCAST:
TODAY 20THE Dec at 13.00 CET/14.00 EET
Media conference (live webcast in English) will be arranged today on 20 December 2022, at 13.00 CET/ 14.00 EET.
The event will be hosted by Juha S Niemelä, Director General of Metsähallitus and Helene Biström, Head of Business Area Wind at Vattenfall.
The webcast can be accessed at http://metsahallitus.videosync.fi/lehdistotilaisuus. By registering, you will receive your personal access code in the given email. On-demand recording is available approximately two hours after the event.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR THE MEDIA
Korsnäs offshore wind project:
- The first in the row of offshore projects to be developed and auctioned by Metsähallitus,
- Investment value of EUR 2 – 3 billion (estimate) when operational in 2030s,
- Generation potential up to 5 TWh, corresponding the annual consumption of more than two million apartment homes with standard equipment level for three persons,
- Nominal capacity of approx. 1.3 GW, corresponding with 40% of the wind power capacity in Finland in 2021,
- The partner to build and operate the wind farm was selected in an international auction process carried out by Metsähallitus in line with its role in managing the state-owned land and sea areas in the country.
Metsähallitus and offshore wind power development
The role of Metsähallitus is to develop the commercial use of state-owned areas for the wellbeing of the Finnish society. Offshore wind projects bring substantial foreign investments to the country, accumulate know-how and create considerable multiplier effects locally, regionally and on the national economy.
Metsähallitus transfers the project rights to energy producers through auction process adopted by the Ministerial Committee on Economic Policy. Metsähallitus does not participate in energy production.
About Vattenfall
Vattenfall is a leading European energy company, which for more than 100 years has electrified industries, supplied energy to people’s homes and modernized our way of living through innovation and cooperation. We now want to make fossil-free living possible within one generation. That’s why we are driving the transition to a sustainable energy system through initiatives in renewable production and climate smart energy solutions for our customers. We employ approximately 19,000 people and have operations mainly in Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the UK. Vattenfall is owned by the Swedish state.
For more information: www.vattenfall.com
Korsnäs municipality
The municipality of Korsnäs is located in the county of Western Finland on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. The nearest port, railway and airport are in Vaasa. Korsnäs is known for its entrepreneurship, its Korsnäs sweater and for its beautiful archipelago. The population of the municipality is approximately 2070 people.
For more information: www.korsnas.fi