Swedish pulp and paper producer SCA has acquired its first wind farm with the purchase of the 85MW Markbygden project in Piteå municipality, northern Sweden from Enercon.
Enercon’s intention to sell was reported in the 6 October edition of reNews, Free Trial – reNews – Renewable Energy News
The acquisition is in line with the company’s previously stated goal of becoming one of the Sweden’s leading providers of fossil-free electricity generated by wind power.
Around 20% Sweden’s installed wind power capacity is currently located on land owned by SCA.
The park is located in Markbygden in Piteå municipality, which has been designated by the Swedish Energy Agency as a national interest for wind farms and consists of a total of 36 turbines.
The annual electricity production from the site is estimated at close to 200 GWh.
Of the 36 wind turbines, 15 are located on SCA land.
The remaining 21 wind turbines are operated under agreements with about 10 landowners that are valid until 2062.
SCA head of wind power Jon Persson said: “This is a park that has very good conditions for re-powering, that is future upgrades of the turbines.
“With such a measure, you can significantly increase the installed power and produce much more electricity on the same land area. It is an efficient use of land.”
With today’s transaction, SCA has initiated its Renewable Energy business area strategy to transform its wind power business model from being lease-based to also acquiring, developing, building, and managing wind farms on its own land.
As part of its realignment, the Enercon is focusing on the development, production, sales and service of onshore wind turbines and is divesting complementary business areas.
“We are pleased to have successfully closed this major transaction this year,” said Benjamin Seifert, Enercon regional head for Central & Northern Europe.
“We do have a long-standing trustful cooperation with SCA in our activities in Scandinavia and a shared commitment to renewable energy.
“We wish to continue and even extend our cooperation with SCA on energy transition projects in the future.”