Finland's 211-MW Piiparinmaki wind farm is officially open

Finnish renewables developer Ilmatar Energy on Wednesday announced the official opening of the 211-MW Piiparinmaki wind farm in central Finland, the largest one of its kind in the country.

The plant, which was brought online in June, was inaugurated with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by parliament speaker Matti Vanhanen.

The Piiparinmaki project was developed by Helsinki-based Ilmatar and is owned by British clean infrastructure investor Glennmont Partners and Japanese electric utility Kansai Electric Power Co Inc (TYO:9503). Glennmont acquired the scheme from Ilmatar in September 2019, while Kansai Electric joined as a minority shareholder in the following year with the purchase of a 15% interest.

Built without using any subsidies, Piiparinmaki is located in the regions of Kainuu and North Ostrobothnia and consists of 41 Vestas turbines. Part of their output will be supplied to Google LLC under a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) that will enable the search engine giant to power its data centre in Hamina, while the remaining electricity will be offered through a merchant agreement with Swedish utility Vattenfall.

Ilmatar provided balance of plant and construction management services and will oversee the wind farm’s operations.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!