Norwegian company Magnora and Swedish partner Kustvind are to accelerate growth plans to develop the 500MW Sydkustens Vind shallow water offshore wind farm in southern Sweden.
The project is now entering its development phase, and physical studies of the seabed and project area in general will also start, the companies said.
They added that the project has been accelerated by 10 months, compared with the original schedule.
Sydkustens Vind is located approximately 8km offshore the southern coast of Sweden and will have a production capacity of 2 terrawatt-hours a year.
Magnora investment director and Kustvind executive chairman Haakon Alfstad said: “The decision follows several studies performed during the spring of 2020 which have provided the answers we were looking for.
“We are now more certain that this is a good project commercially and technically feasible.
“The project is located close to relevant infrastructure in Sweden and the area has very attractive wind conditions.
“In addition, southern Sweden has had very attractive electricity prices both historically and recently. All these factors contribute towards increasing the project’s robustness,” says Haakon Alfstad.
Magnora director of offshore and industrial projects Bjorn Sund said: “The offshore project is located centrally in the Oresund region which has 3.5 million inhabitants.
“The region has experienced strong population growth over the past decades and is expected to continue growing due to increased urbanization.
“Furthermore, the Copenhagen Municipality has together with leading Danish corporations decided to build the world’s largest green hydrogen facility. Both factors are positive for the region’s demand for green energy.”
Magnora signed a final shareholder agreement with Kustvind on 20 March 2020, that will see the former gradually increase its ownership in the company up to 50% based on a detailed milestone plan.
Kustvind consists of a team of three project developers with over 25 years’ experience from wind power developments in numerous countries, both onshore and offshore.
Magnora is an investment company within renewable energy.
In addition to the Sydkustens Vind project, the company has recently signed two letters of intent in connection with a potential 60MW project in Scandinavia and50 MW capacity onshore wind development project in the UK.