E.ON will build one of the largest onshore wind farms in Europe. The company today announced that it has decided to invest in the 475-megawatt Nysäter project in Sweden. The wind farm will be built jointly with the Swiss investment manager Credit Suisse Energy Infrastructure Partners (CSEIP), an experienced financial investor, solely dedicated to the energy sector.

A fund advised by CSEIP will hold 80 percent of the joint venture, while E.ON will build and operate the wind farm under a long-term O&M agreement and retain a 20 percent equity stake in the project. The total investment amounts to around €500 million.

The project is supported by a power purchase agreement (PPA) signed with a Global Energy Major providing a comprehensive set of risk management and other services to the project. The agreement highlights the increasing trend toward renewable energy PPAs in Europe.

The Nysäter project is located in the wooded and hilly Västernorrland district of central Sweden close to Sundsvall, an area with excellent wind conditions. Construction of Nysäter is scheduled to start in 2018 and is expected to be completed by end of 2021. The wind farm will be equipped with 114 turbines from the German manufacturer Nordex. The output of the turbines varies between 3.9 and 4.4 megawatts depending on the location and will have a tip height up to 220 meters.

“It is part of our strategy to expand our position for onshore wind energy in Europe. Nysäter means a significant expansion of our Scandinavian portfolio. The project also demonstrates our ability to successfully develop and commercialize large-scale projects worldwide,” says Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, CEO of E.ON Climate & Renewables.

This year, E.ON is bringing wind projects in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, Italy, and the United States to the grid with a total capacity of around 1,000 megawatts, equivalent to the installed capacity of a nuclear power plant.