On 7 September 2017 the 247.50-MW Blaiken Wind farm project in northern Sweden was formally inaugurated, although the first phases of the farm have been operational for quite some time. With 99 windmills it’s one of Europe’s largest farms, and it has also proven to be a driver of technology development to handle challenges connected to its Arctic location. The project, Fortum’s first large project in wind, has also been important in terms of building internal know-how on our journey to fulfilling our GW-scale target in wind and solar.
“Wind power provides one of the most cost-competitive forms of new capacity, and the experiences from the Blaiken Wind farm project have been key for us in acquiring experience. We can build on it to develop and to build additional wind power in the Nordics and in Russia,” says Kari Kautinen, Senior Vice President, M&A and Solar & Wind Development at Fortum.
The Blaiken Wind farm is a joint cooperation project between Fortum and the Swedish utility Skellefteå Kraft, collaboration that has proved to be so successful that the companies are also working together on a 75-MW project in Solberg, also situated in the northern part of Sweden. For Fortum, the project has also been important for our capacity to manage greenfield investments in wind farms.
Building as well as operating and maintaining wind turbines in Arctic conditions is demanding. The wind farm also worked as a pilot for testing new solutions, being the first to utilise a double system for the blades to handle anti-icing/de-icing (combining hot air and heating mat).
“We have had close collaboration regarding the implementation of the de-icing systems with Dongfang, which supplied the turbines for the last phases of the Blaiken project. The heat mat technology has been developed with the Finnish Institute of Technology and we’re expecting it to perform well,” says Kari Kautinen.
In full operation, the Blaiken wind farm is expected to produce enough electricity to meet the annual consumption of about 200,000 households.
Blaiken Wind farm in brief
Skellefteå Kraft has together with Fortum built a wind farm in the Blaiken area in northern Sweden, through the company Blaiken Vind AB. The construction has been done in four stages, with the fourth and final stage completed in 2017. Blaiken wind farm now consists of 99 wind turbines with an installed effect of 247.5 MW. Ownership shares: Skellefteå Kraft 85%, Fortum 15%.
Blaiken wind farm is classified as a demonstration project and has been given a grant of EUR 15 million via the EU’s NER 300 funding programme, which promotes renewable energy and the development of new technology. This means that other actors within the industry can come to Blaiken wind farm to e.g. learn about the unique ice protection system.
Blaiken in numbers:
99 wind turbines
Installed effect of 247.5 MW
Yearly production of approx. 714 GWh/year
SEK 3.3 billion invested
Tower height of 100 meters in stage 1 and 2, 90 meters in stage 3 and 4
Rotor diameter of 100 meters in stage 1 and 2, 110 meters in stage 3 and 4
Expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approx. 690,000 tonnes/year
Photographer: Cliff Karlsson