Finnish offshore wind project moves forward

Ilmatar Offshore identified a new 367 km² offshore wind area in the Finnish exclusive economic zone, the company said. The project area called Vågskär is located in the southern part of the Bothnian Sea and has a potential capacity of 1.2 GW, based on 15 MW turbines, the technology already in use today.

The Finnish Government granted the seabed survey permit to Ilmatar. Ramboll Finland will now conduct the area’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) based on existing data.

Stefan Husa, Leading Expert in Marine Planning at Ilmatar Offshore, said: "Ramboll is an established environmental consultant with experience from many marine and offshore wind projects in Finland and offers all the necessary expertise to investigate our project areas. We also create synergies, as Ramboll Finland acts as our EIA consultant also for the Stormskär and Väderskär project areas in the Åland territorial waters."

Image: Ilmatar

As part of the EIA process, several field surveys, marine archaeological and biological investigations will be carried out to map species that occur in the area, which ecosystems need to be considered and what environmental impacts the wind farm has during the construction, operation and dismantling phase. Also examined are the geophysical character of the area, i.e. the depth of the seabed, sediment type and bedrock depth, and the characteristics of the sea, such as water currents and ice conditions. Another essential part of the EIA work is to investigate existing activities in the area and how they may be affected when the wind farm will be built.

Technical and environmental studies will be conducted in the project area in 2023 and 2024. According to the preliminary schedule, the EIA work for Vågskär will be finalised in mid-2025.