Nysäter project is a 475MW wind park being developed in Sweden. It will be the second-largest onshore wind farm in Sweden and one of the largest in Europe.
The wind farm is being built by Nysäter Wind, which is jointly owned by RWE Renewables Sweden (20%) and Credit Suisse Energy Infrastructure Partners (CSEIP, 80%). RWE is also the customer representative for the construction phase and will operate and maintain the wind turbines upon completion.
Recommended White Papers
Recommended Buyers Guides
The €500m ($566m) project was initially developed by E.ON but the asset was later transferred to RWE, along with the Roscoe wind farm, as part of the acquisition of E.ON’s renewables business by RWE. The company entered a power purchase agreement (PPA) with an undisclosed global energy company for the project.
The wind park will produce 1.7TWh of power a year, which is sufficient to meet the annual electricity requirement of the entire Västernorrland county.
Nysäter wind farm will be developed in two phases, including Hästkullen (phase-1) with a generation capacity of 307MW and Björnlandhöjden (phase-2) with a capacity of 167MW.
The turbine installation began in August 2020, following the completion of the necessary infrastructure work at the site. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.
Nysater wind farm location
The Nysäter project is located close to Sundsvall, 395km north of Stockholm in central Sweden. Spanning two separate sites Hästkullen and Björnlandhöjden, the project site is situated in the wooded, hilly district of Västernorrland. The location records average wind speeds of 7.5m-8m per second.
Nysater wind farm details
Nysäter wind farm will contain 114 turbines, with 73 turbines installed in the first phase and 41 turbines in the second phase. It will have 104 units of N149/4.0-4.5 turbines and ten units of N131/3900 turbines.
The Nordex turbines will have a tip height of up to 220m with output varying between 3.9MW and 4.4MW. The rotor diameter of the turbine is more than 130m-150m while the swept area is larger than a football field.
The N149/4.0-4.5 turbines were configured using different operational modes and tower heights for an optimum operational lifetime. The N149 turbine, based on the Delta4000 platform, was the first to be installed at Hästkullen on a 145m tubular steel tower.53 of the 73 turbines to be installed in the first phase will use rock anchoring foundation system.
Construction timeline
Turbines, towers, and rotor blades began to arrive at the Härnösand site by June 2020. The first tower parts were installed on site in the northern part of the park in August 2020. The construction of 25km of the road was completed at Hästkullen, along with the casting of 37 foundations, on September 2020. Works for the construction of the power line of the larger overhead lines for the power connection to the main grid are ongoing.
The project employs approximately 500 people and uses heavy construction machines such as excavators and dumpers.
Financing for Nysater wind farm
Approximately €375m ($428.5m) project financing was arranged by German commercial bank Norddeutsche Landesbank. It includes debt facilities worth €340m ($388.5m) with a term of 18 years, as well as ancillary and standby facilities. Germany’s export credit agency (ECA) Euler Hermes is providing a credit guarantee for the wind farm project.
Contractors involved
Nordex was awarded a turnkey contract in 2018 for the construction of turbines, along with civil and electrical infrastructure works at the site.
In July 2019, NOBE (Nordecon Betoon) and Nordex signed a €14.7m ($16.3m) contract, under which the former agreed to undertake the construction of foundations for 73 turbines, including concrete works and ground anchor installation.
Norddeutsche Landesbank is the lead arranger, ECA advisor and underwriter, while Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) advised the bank on the project financing.
Saitec designed the civil works and the electrical collector system of the Björnlandhöjden wind farm. Mainline Group was contracted to deliver a complete electrical balance of plant design and build solutions for the Hästkullen wind farm.
Suvic won a contract to provide anchor foundation for 53 wind turbines in February 2019.
