VALOREM confirms its position as a major player in wind energy in Finland with an increase of +600Mw of project portfolio

This agreement between VALOREM and its Finnish partner, Enersense Wind, is part of the partnership agreement renewed in May 2022, for an additional 1GW of onshore wind projects to be developed across Finland by 2025, on top of 500MW already under development. Since 2015, this positive mutual co-operation between the two partners has already brought to Ready-to-Built (“RTB”) over 400MW of onshore wind assets in Finland to date including the Saunamaa, Suolakangas, Kalistanneva, and Matkussaari wind farms.

VALOREM confirms its position as a major player in Finland, with the approval of its Yli-Olhava 50 turbines wind project Master Plan and the ongoing construction of the Viiatti 313 MW construction wind farms.

Since 2016, VALOREM has been co-developing with Enersense Wind the 50 turbines Yli-Olhava wind project in Ii Municipality, located in the North-Ostrobothnia region. A very important milestone was achieved on February 28th this year with the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland ruling. The request for leave to appeal regarding the adoption of the master plan was rejected, therefore clearing the way for the next stages of development.

"The favourable ruling of the Supreme Court is a decisive step. We are delighted with the progress of the development of Yli-Olhava project, which we are actively pursuing by maintaining high quality standards and in close cooperation with local authorities and communities, in line with our values and commitments. The ongoing collaboration with our partner Enersense Wind is fruitful and paves the way for the next steps," says Minna Jukola, Country manager of VALOREM Energies Finland Oy.

Viiatti wind farm construction is progressing as planned

The construction of 313 MW VIIATTI wind project, divided in two projects, one of the 148,5 MW Matkussaari wind farm (100% owned by VALOREM) and one of the 165MW Kalistanneva wind farm (sold in 2022 to the Finnish consortium of Helen and Ålandsbanken Wind Power Fund) is performed by VALREA, the EPC subsidiary of VALOREM. It is progressing according to expected execution timeline. All the 57 WTG foundations are now done, civil works are completed, ready for the next transport stages, and electrical works (internal grid and sub-stations) are on-going. The installation of the Over Head Line (OHL) has started in January this year. Thanks to our partners for this project as SUVIC, CARELIN, and ELTEL, the Commercial Operation Date will be happening first quarter 2025 respecting commitments.

Find out about the construction of Viiatti’s wind farms: Video

When completed, Yli-Olhava and Viiatti projects will generate 2 TWh of electricity, covering about 2,5% of Finland’s total electricity demand.

For Philippe TAVERNIER, COO of VALOREM: “With these two significant projects, VALOREM is proud to contribute to the achievement of Finland’s carbon neutrality objective in 2035. We are pleased to be involved in this process and to therefore consolidate our position as a major European IPP.  We are actively pursuing the development of other projects in the country. Thanks to our strong and growing local team in Helsinki, we are now moving into the business development of greenfield photovoltaic projects.”