wpd AG updates on the construction of wind farms in Finland

Bremen, Germany, 5-6-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — After several years of pre-planning, wpd has reached a break-through in Finland:

In September 2013, construction of the infrastructure for the 33 MW Mäkikangas project in the municipality of Pyhäjoki, situated in the Northern Ostrobothnia province, has started. Since April 2014, work on the foundations and the building of the substation are in full swing. Until autumn, 11 wind turbine generators of the type Nordex N-117/3 MW on steel towers of 141 m are to be connected to the grid.

Additional projects are in construction preparation in the neighboring community of Kalajoki, construction start for the infrastructure for the next 36 MW is planned for the third quarter of 2014. For those projects mentioned, a 110 kV overhead line with a length of 18 km has been planned and built in cooperation with two competitors and the local grid operator, and the wind farms shall be connected to this line via substations which have yet to be built.

“In long years of intense cooperation with land owners, communities, authorities and competitors, wpd has gained an excellent reputation on the Finnish market. We are very proud to be able to climb the next step from this basis, building these projects. And I am sure that our high demands on reliability and quality will gain us further success in the future,” says Birgit Schneider, wpd Country Manager in charge for Finland and Sweden.

Overall, wpd is planning the implementation of up to 150 MW of wind power during the next three years in the Northern Ostrobothnia province. Experienced wpd teams shall take care of the necessary legal and technical preparations for the construction work as well as the monitoring thereof, with a close cooperation between the German and Finnish staff.

Currently, wpd has a team of eight employees in Finland, busy with the planning for the mid-term implementation of projects with a capacity of several 100 MW.

“The beginning of construction work for our first project in Finland once more demonstrates the success of our strategy of putting our faith on several attractive markets worldwide, closely crosslinking the foreign with the German teams. For that matter, the first Finnish wind farm is not only a result of the committed and professional work of the Finnish team, but is also due to the experience of and the know-how transfer by the German team. On this basis, we shall implement more projects this year in France and Poland,” announces wpd Chairman Dr. Hartmut Brösamle.

About wpd 
wpd is an operator and developer of on- and offshore wind farms, being active in 18 countries all over the world, with head offices in Germany. The wpd group has already implemented wind power projects with some 1,600 turbines and an output of more than 2.8 GW. In Finland, wpd is planning the implementation of some 600 MW via its affiliate company, wpd Finland Oy, situated in Espoo/Finland. wpd’s international onshore wind activities in Europe (outside of Germany) and Canada are pooled in wpd europe GmbH. The utility company Stadtwerke München (SWM) holds a 33 % share in this affiliate company.

Contact data: 
wpd AG
Christian Schnibbe
Manager PR & Marketing
Stephanitorsbollwerk 3
28217 Bremen
Tel: +49 (421) 16866-10
E-Mail: c.schnibbe(et)wpd.de