The wind farm developer wpd has concluded a contract with the technology company Google for the sale of green wind power. From 2020, wpd’s Kuuronkallio wind farm in the west of Finland will supply the company’s Finnish data centre with more than 200 gigawatt hours of sustainable energy per year. With the conclusion of this contract, wpd is not only implementing a pioneering marketing model but also reinforcing its strong position in northern Europe by constructing its fourth wind farm in Finland.
wpd considers Finland as one of the most important future markets because the country offers clear, reliable conditions for developing projects. “Not only do we find good wind conditions as a platform for our wind farms, but also an appropriate political framework which provides us with planning security”, states Dr. Gernot Blanke, Member of the Board at wpd AG. “In addition, by comparison with other European countries, wind farms can be realised with comparatively low generating costs.”
“We are delighted to be able to implement a marketing model with Google which points the way for the further expansion of independent, decentralised electricity supplies, especially in this market”, Dr. Blanke says. “More and more companies and countries are recognising this and banking increasingly on direct electricity supply contracts. These power purchase agreements (PPAs) are a prerequisite for the construction of new wind farms in many European markets in which we operate. wpd signed its first power purchase agreement for a wind farm in Belgium as early as 2006. In addition, we are currently negotiating further PPAs, e.g. in Spain and Sweden.”
The Kuuronkallio project which will consist of 14 turbines with a total output of around 60 megawatts, is currently at an early stage of construction. Since August, wpd has been busy preparing access roads for the wind farm which is due to be commissioned at the end of 2019.
About wpd AG
wpd develops and operates onshore and offshore wind farms around the world, and is actively engaged in 18 countries; the head office is in Bremen. In the last 20 years, the company has realised projects with 2,180 wind turbines and an output of 4,400 MW in total. wpd is currently planning projects in the order of 8,050 MW onshore and over 5,300 MW offshore around the world. www.wpd.de