Finland’s largest wind farm will be built in Lestijärvi, Central Ostrobothnia. It will be implemented by Europe’s leading onshore wind power developer, OX2, together with three Finnish energy companies. Keski-Suomen Betonirakenne Oy (KSBR) will supply the park’s infrastructure.
This turn-key Balance of Plant (BoP) delivery by KSBR includes wind farm roads, lifting areas, wind turbine foundations, the wind farm medium voltage network and telecommunications network, and the substations for grid connection, three of 110 kV and one of 400 kV.
The Lestijärvi wind farm comprises 69 wind turbines. With a combined total capacity of 455 MWs, the wind farm generates more than 1.3 TWh of electricity annually. The amount corresponds to about two percent of Finland’s total electricity production in 2020.
Benefits for the whole economic area
KSBR has previously constructed wind farms infrastructure for OX2 in Ponsivuori, Kurikka, Ykspihlaja and Korkeakangas. In recent years, KSBR has developed civil and electrical turn-key BoP deliveries for continuously larger wind power projects, and the Lestijärvi project is a natural continuation of this determined development.
”KSBR has worked with high quality and reliability in our previous projects. We know exactly what we get from the partner. Finland’s largest wind power project in the infrastructure builder’s neighborhood shows concretely how much benefits wind power construction can bring to the economic area of the project locations”, says Teemu Loikkanen, OX2’s regional manager of Finland and the Baltics.
The construction work for the entire wind power project will employ significantly people in the area, up to 350–400 people a year for three years. The project’s annual property tax revenue for the municipality of Lestijärvi is approximately EUR 2.5 million.
Clean energy production is increasing
“It is great to continue cooperating with OX2 in this scale of a project. Together with our partners, we have systematically developed the turnkey deliveries of wind farm infrastructures, and the trust of our customer OX2 in this project is a significant sign of our success in this work. It is also important that domestic electricity producers increasingly switch to clean renewable energy. In addition, this investment will significantly increase the vitality of the region”, says Juha Tuominen, KSBR’s business director responsible for wind power construction.
OX2 is implementing this largest wind power project in Finland for a consortium of domestic energy companies, which includes Kymppivoima, Oulun Energia and Kuopion Energia. After construction, OX2 will remain responsible for the technical and financial management of the wind farm.
Work in the Lestijärvi project has begun, and at KSBR, project manager Petteri Mäkelä is responsible for the execution. The wind farm construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.