Finland's Fingrid identifies five areas for offshore wind connections

Finnish transmission system operator (TSO) Fingrid Oyj announced today that it identified five preliminary areas along the west coast of the country where large offshore wind parks could be connected to the mainland grid by the 2030s.

The five areas – Ulvila, Narpio, Vaasa, Raahe, and Raisio – have been identified as part of the study of possible connection points that was launched late last year. Fingrid is now seeking feedback from stakeholders through a consultation until June 23 in order to define the connection points more precisely. The TSO also pointed at the Inkoo area as an additional option should offshore wind development becomes feasible in Finland’s southern sea areas.

For these gigawatt-scale offshore wind power connections to be implemented, additional investments of roughly EUR 600 million (USD 650m) will be needed in Central Ostrobothnia, Southwest Finland, and Uusimaa, beyond the EUR 4 billion described in Fingrid’s main grid development plan in 2023, the TSO explained.

So far, Fingrid has received inquiries regarding connections for up to 95 GW of offshore wind power, which is an increase from the almost 90 GW disclosed last autumn. The company noted it anticipates the country’s total installed offshore wind power capacity to reach 6.5 GW by the end of the 2030s, corresponding to slightly over 30 TWh of annual production.

An event is scheduled to take place on May 22 to discuss offshore wind power network connections.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.079)

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