Paltusmäki wind farm goes into operation.
Helsinki/Paltusmäki, August 12, 2020. This is a milestone in the company’s history. After entering the Finnish market four years ago, the first kilowatt hour (kWh) produced by Energiequelle will be fed into the Finnish electricity grid this week. The electricity comes from the Paltusmäki wind farm in the Northern Ostrobothnia region, three kilometres from the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. Five Enercon L-147 turbines with an output of 4.3 MW and a hub height of 132 metres are currently being built here. Three plants have already been constructed and will begin their test run this week. The wind farm is expected to supply around 75.5 million kWh of sustainable electricity annually in the future.
Gregor Weber, board member of the Finnish subsidiary Energiequelle OY, is proud of his team`s success: “In 2015, we decided to enter the Finnish market. Today our first project goes live and another 800 MW are under development. This exceeds my expectations by far. My special thanks go to the entire Finnish team, which has done an excellent job in recent years, as well as to our employees in Germany, who permanently support the work on site with their know-how. “From one initial employee, the Helsinki team has now grown to eight employees – including purchasers, site managers, project developers and assistants”.
There are many different reasons why Energiequelle decided to come to Finland and have ultimately succeeded here. “Above all, there are good wind and planning conditions in Finland, enabling us to build at market conditions without state subsidies. In Paltusmäki, remuneration is regulated by a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA),” says Nils Borstelmann, Country Manager in Finland.
In addition to its Finnish subsidiary and eleven locations in Germany, Energiequelle also has three additional branches in France. Looking ahead, the company wants to gain a foothold in at least two other markets by 2025. The current annual turnover amounts to almost EUR 100 million and the company employs more than 250 people in total.
