WPD Successful with Wind Energy PPAs in Northern Europe
Bremen, Germany - In the course of the cost degression of renewable energy projects worldwide, long-term power supply contracts are developing into a successful model for the marketing of regeneratively generated electricity.
Especially in Finland and Sweden, WPD will supply large companies such as Google, UPM and other well-known companies with energy from its own wind farms under power purchase agreements. The recently concluded agreement with UPM Kymmene, the world's leading producer of pulp, paper and innovative wood-based products, guarantees the purchase of most of the green electricity produced by WPD’s Karhunnevankangas wind farm, a total of almost 4 TWh, for the duration of the contract, WPD announced. The wind farm is being built in the municipality of Pyhäjoki in western Finland and is expected to be operational in 2022. According to WPD, 32 wind turbines of the latest turbine generation with a capacity of about 6 megawatts (MW) each are planned. This brings the wind farm to a total capacity of around 190 MW.
It is a great success for our team in Finland that we have been able to partner with a sustainable company like UPM," says Heikki Peltomaa of WPD Finland. "UPM's long-term commitment provides a reliable investment base for our project.”
As WPD points out, in the course of power purchase agreements and the continuity of cooperation with its partners, WPD has secured the installation of 200 MW of renewable production capacities in Northern Europe and marketed their power production. Further projects with a capacity of 71 MW are already under construction and further corporate PPAs with a project volume of around 260 MW have been closed as of today. According to WPD, in addition to these projects currently being implemented, the company has a pipeline of around 1,000 MW each in the Swedish and Finnish wind energy markets. WPD is already in talks with a number of potential partners who want a PPA to make them independent of price fluctuations on the electricity markets and contribute to the energy transition.
As a developer and operator of onshore and offshore wind farms, WPD employs around 2,200 people worldwide. The company, which is headquartered in Bremen, is active in 21 countries. In more than 20 years, WPD AG has implemented projects with 2,200 wind turbines and a total output of around 4,450 MW. Internationally, WPD currently plans wind energy projects with a capacity of around 8,725 MW onshore and 7,250 MW offshore as well as PV projects with a capacity of 825 MW.
Source: IWR Online, 13 Feb 2020
