The project was developed by Vindparken and WindSpace, with support from GE Renewable Energy, and sold to InfraVia Capital Partners, a French infrastructure investor. It is located approximately 470 kilometres north of Stockholm and will generate enough renewable energy to power the equivalent of 175,000 homes in Sweden, playing an important role supporting the country’s target to become fossil fuel-free by 2040.
The project is expected to reach commercial operations by the end of 2020. GE will also provide a 25-year Full Services Agreement.
“The Björkvattnet wind farm is an exciting opportunity for GE, and our Cypress platform is ideally suited for the project” said Peter Wells, CEO for Onshore Wind in the European region of GE Renewable Energy. “Cypress is evolving into a versatile solution well suited for Europe’s varied terrain and wind conditions, including the Nordics, Germany, Spain, Italy and Austria, and we look forward to bringing it to Sweden for the first time. By working across the onshore wind value chain to optimize value for our customers, we will help reach its renewable energy targets.”
Announced last year by GE, the Cypress platform is the most powerful onshore wind turbine in operation today. It enables significant Annual Energy Production improvements, increased efficiency in serviceability, improved logistics and siting potential, and ultimately more value for customers. The unique two-piece blade design enables blades to be manufactured at even longer lengths, while improving logistics to drive costs down and offer more siting options, in locations previously inaccessible.
Jens Elton Andersen, WindSpace, added that the project is a great example of bringing together the right teams and competencies for successful execution and that in the constantly changing market, there is a growing need for new sophisticated technical, commercial and collaborative capabilities to maximise value and execution certainty through the development of new renewable energy projects. Mr Andersen also said that the project is a landmark project for the green transition.
GE provided the Björkvattnet project with development support, offtake solutions, technical and commercial optimization, and equity syndication expertise through GE Energy Financial Services (‘GE EFS’). Co-sponsors were advised by NewSec, a financial company, and Mannheimer Swartling (MSA), a Swedish law firm.
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