All Enefit Green's new wind farms have reached wind turbine installation stage
In all four new wind farms of Enefit Green, the foundations are completed, and the next step is to install the wind turbines. The first of the new wind farms to start generating electricity will be Šilale II in Lithuania where 11 wind turbines are already standing.
According to Enefit Green’s Head of Wind Energy, Lauri Ulm, the company wishes to start production in the new farms as soon as possible. “Each new wind or solar farm in Estonia and our neighboring countries helps to make the price of electricity more affordable for consumers. Onshore wind farms are currently the cheapest way to produce electricity among existing technologies, and every new renewable energy power plant helps to bring prices down,” Ulm said.
Enefit Green's new wind farms in Estonia, Lithuania and Finland will gradually be completed next year. A total of more than 200 megawatts of wind energy production capacity and more than 700 gigawatt-hours of green electricity will be added annually. This amount of electricity covers the annual consumption of more than 200,000 average Estonian households.
Construction has reached the furthest point in Lithuania, where 11 out of 12 wind turbines are up in the 43-megawatt Šilale II Wind Farm. Wind turbine towers, nacelles and blades have also been transported to the 75-megawatt Akmene Wind Farm. For the Purtse wind and solar hybrid park in Estonia, blades and other parts will arrive in December. The 13 foundations of Tolpanvaara Wind Farm in northern Finland are also ready, and the wind turbines will be delivered there next spring.
According to Ulm, it takes an average of one and a half to two years to build a wind farm. “Building access roads, foundations and laying cables is the most voluminous part of the construction work. Once these jobs are finished and the wind turbine parts are there on the site, the installation of wind turbines goes quite fast with the right weather conditions. The wind farm can start generating electricity for consumers immediately after being connected to the network. The latter requires a thorough inspection of the systems so that everything works as it should,” Ulm described the construction of a wind farm.
Enefit Green is investing a total of more than 225 million euros in the construction of these four wind farms.
By the end of this year, Enefit Green plans to reach the final investment decision and construction stage with the 235-megawatt Toots/Sopi project in Estonia and the 80-megawatt Kelme I Wind Farm in Lithuania. Estonia's largest wind energy area will be formed with the completion of Tootsi and Sopi, doubling Estonia's current wind energy output. Kelme I Wind Farm is the first stage of a three-part project, forming a 320 megawatt wind energy production plant together with the others.
Watch a video on the construction of Tolpanvaara Wind Farm.
Watch a video on the installation of wind turbines in Šilale II.
Watch a video from the construction site of Šilale II.
Watch a time-lapse video of foundation laying in Purtse Wind Farm.