The 353MW Blakliden Fabodberget wind farm is being developed in the Asele and Lycksele municipalities in northern Sweden. It will be one of the country’s largest onshore wind farms upon commissioning.
Operated by Blakliden Fabodberget Wind, the wind farm is co-owned by Vattenfall (30%), turbine manufacturer Vestas (40%) and Danish pension fund PKA (30%). Vattenfall is responsible for the construction and operation works, while Vestas will supply wind turbines for the project. PKA Funds is involved in the financing of the project.
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The construction of the wind farm started in May 2018 and will involve an estimated investment of Skr3.5bn ($386.5m). However, the construction work on the site remains suspended during winter every year due to cold weather, heavy snow and frost.
The wind farm with an annual output of 1.1 terawatt-hours (TWh) is expected to be commissioned by the first quarter of 2022. Approximately 220,000 Swedish households will be powered by the electricity generated by the farm. Vattenfall collaborated with Vindkraftcentrum to provide contracts to the local and regional suppliers and contractors for the project.
Blakliden Fabodberget wind farm location
The wind farm will be located in the middle of the Vasterbotten county, on either side of the Fredrika locality. The selected sites experience strong winds, making them ideal for wind power generation.
The sites meet the environmental, cultural and infrastructure requirements of a wind farm. The Blakliden Fabodberget facility is located approximately 10km away from the Stor-Rotliden wind farm, which is operated by Vattenfall. The facilities in Vasterbotten will serve as a renewable energy generation hub capable of supplying 5TWh of electricity to meet the needs of approximately one million households in the country.
Blakliden Fabodberget wind farm details
The Blakliden Fabodberget wind farm is being developed in two segments with the installation of 84 wind turbines.
The Blakliden wind farm is being constructed with 50 turbines in the Asele municipality, while the Fabodberget wind farm will have 34 turbines in both Asele and Lycksele municipalities. Both wind farms are being developed as a single project as they have the same connection point to the electricity grid.
The project construction works in 2020 will include the laying of approximately 107km long cable, completion of 84 crane sites and foundation works, construction of transformer stations, connecting overhead power lines to the site and construction of 70km of road to access the project site.
The wind turbines will be delivered and installed at the site in 2021. Approximately 60% of the total electricity generated by the farm will be purchased by Norsk Hydro under a 20-year electricity supply agreement. The contract will witness the supply of 0.66TWh of annual baseload to the aluminium plants of Hydro in Norway from 2022 to 2041.
Wind turbine details
The Blakliden Fabodberget wind farm will be installed with V136-4.2 MW wind turbines that can withstand extreme weather conditions and generate maximum power in low to medium wind speeds. The turbine is designed to operate in extreme average wind speeds of 53m/s.
The 4.2MW capacity wind turbine measures 66.7m-long with a maximum chord of 4.1m. The rotor diameter of the turbine is 136m with a swept area of 14,527m². The rotor is fitted with full blade feathering air brake with three pitch cylinders. The total height of the turbine from the tip of the rotor blade is 180m.
Blakliden Fabodberget onshore wind farm financing
The project achieved financial closure in October 2018 with funding to be secured through different sources, including equity and mezzanine debt from PKA and Vattenfall, and senior project financing debt from Export Credit Agency (EKF) of Denmark.
Cooperatieve Rabobank arranged the financing for the project. Clifford Chance was the adviser to Cooperatieve Rabobank and the senior lender on the financing.
