Financial close was reached for project finance of Swedish wind farm, Maevaara, for which leading renewable engineering consultancy, SgurrEnergy, completed an independent energy yield prediction for Allianz Capital Partners. The wind farm, developed by Nordic onshore wind developer O2, will provide power to Google’s Hamina data centre in Finland for the next 10 years, through a power purchase agreement (PPA). Allianz Capital Partners is providing financing for construction and will assume ownership of the site, upon commencement of operation.
The PPA for the 72MW wind farm, situated between Pajala and Övertorneå in Sweden’s Arctic region, marks a novel use of the integrated European electricity market and grid system, Nord Pool. Scandinavian interconnectivity will allow Google to purchase power from the wind farm in Sweden and, in effect, use it in its data centre across the border in Finland.
Sponsors
Sponsors
Sponsors
As the Maevaara wind farm is situated in complex terrain with high tree density, SgurrEnergy, part of Wood Group, undertook Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis informed by a site survey to complete the independent energy yield prediction for the wind farm.
The newly launched Nordex N117 3MW wind turbine was modelled as part of the energy yield analysis. The wind turbine model has since been chosen as the candidate turbine for the development, due to its optimisation for medium wind sites and options for very cold climates.
SgurrEnergy’s Victoria O’Connor, said: “Working with Allianz Capital Partners on their first wind project in Sweden was a fantastic opportunity and allowed us to use our considerable regional knowledge alongside our extensive experience of wind flow modelling in complex forestry to support them in this acquisition.
We look forward to working alongside Allianz Capital Partners as it continues to develop its renewable energy portfolio.”
The power purchase agreement implemented for this project offers an interesting model for further wind farm development in this market.
The site consists of two clusters, each of which will comprise of 12 wind turbines. The development will move into the construction phase in the coming months and is expected to be operational in early 2015.
