The Finland-based firm Fortum has won a tender to build out the country’s total solar energy capacity by around 30%, it has revealed.
Given that Fortum is majority-owned by Finland itself, the fact that it won the tender isn’t too surprising itself, but it is interesting how substantial the tender is. The plan is reportedly to install solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on around 40 commercial buildings throughout the country.
While this will altogether only amount to around 10 megawatts (MW) worth of nameplate capacity, the buildout will actually represent the largest solar energy project to date among Finland, Sweden, and Norway, reportedly.
A statement on the matter released by the company noted that “installation work will start in spring 2018 and will be completed during autumn 2018.”
Notably, the exact terms and value of the deal have not been publicly disclosed.
Reuters provides some context on the matter: “The total solar power production capacity in Finland neared 35 MW by the end of 2017 and adding the new installations will increase the country’s output by about 30%…Fortum, the Nordic region’s largest utility in terms of customer base, has so far been active in the solar power industry mostly in India, where it has implemented projects with a total output of 185 MW.”
Presumably all of the new solar energy generation capacity will be installed in the the southern part of the country where solar insolation levels aren’t too bad. Even that being the case, such installations will still provide most of their generation potential during a period of just a half year or so, clustered around the summer solstice.
Source: cleantechnica.com
