Alight preps to build Sweden's largest solar plant for Axfood

Swedish solar developer Alight AB is getting ready to build a 64-MW solar farm in Hallstavik, outside Norrtalje, for local food retail group Axfood AB (STO:AXFO).

Alight said on Wednesday that it expects construction work to begin this week, having just signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the customer and received the necessary permit to install about 92,000 solar panels over an area of 71 hectares.

Under the terms of the new offtake contract, Alight will build, own and operate the facility, while Axfood will buy its output for a minimum period of 12 years.

Project completion is planned for the second quarter of 2024. According to the announcement, the Hallstavik plant will be roughly three times larger than any Swedish solar park at the estimated date of commissioning. The new project replaces a previously planned solar farm in Skane because of a delay in permitting.

This will also be Sweden’s first solar asset financed with a dedicated non-recourse debt facility. The financing will come from financial services group SEB.

Axfood, which owns the store chains Willys and Hemkop, aims to have at least 40 solar arrays deployed by 2025 at the latest. Its portfolio of such installations includes both Sweden’s largest rooftop solar power system at its new warehouse in Balsta and a large solar array at its fruit and vegetable warehouse in Landskrona, as reported previously.

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