Independent power producer (IPP) Alight has signed an agreement to connect a 100MW solar PV park in Finland.
Signed with Finnish electricity network company Caruna, the project is located in Eurajoki, in western Finland. The Swedish IPP unveiled the project last September and is currently under development.
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Construction of the project is expected to begin in late 2024 and be operational in early 2026. The company is expected to sign a power purchase agreement for the project and make the solar park “financially viable”, according to Warren Campbell, deputy CEO at Alight. Campbell added that the Swedish IPP is on its way to reaching its goal of 1.5GW of solar PV under development by the end of 2024.
“The clean transition accelerates the need for new electricity network capacity in Finland, which will require grid development in the coming years, and we welcome regulations that will allow for the necessary investments to bring more projects like this online,” said Kosti Rautiainen, executive VP at Caruna.
The Swedish-based IPP spoke with PV Tech Premium last year about its solar PV expansion into the Scandinavian countries – primarily Sweden and Finland – and the challenges to build solar PV in northern Europe. In its home country, the company started the construction of a 100MW solar PV park along with French renewables IPP Neoen in October 2023.
Despite having a lower level of irradiance than southern European countries such as Spain or Italy, interest in solar PV in Finland – and the Nordics – continues to increase. Recently, renewables developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) entered the Finnish market with the intention to develop 600MW of solar PV. The portfolio consists of several projects which are targeted to reach the ready to build phase between 2024 and 2026.
In its updated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), Finland more than doubled the installed capacity of solar PV by 2030 from 1.2GW to 2.8GW, as shown in the chart below.
