The Björnberget project is a 372MW onshore wind farm under construction in the Västernorrland province of Sweden.
A consortium of Prime Green Energy Infrastructure Fund (PGEIF), managed by German asset manager Prime Capital, and Enlight Renewable Energy, an independent power producer based in Israel, is developing the project.
Recommended White Papers
The consortium acquired the onshore wind power project from Renewable Energy Systems (RES), an independent renewable energy company based in the UK, in October 2020.
Construction activities on the project are underway with 36 wind turbine tower segments for the project delivered at the Port of Orrskär in January 2022. Turbine installation is scheduled to be carried out in 2022 and the wind farm is expected to commence operations in the first half of 2023.
At full capacity, the Björnberget onshore wind farm is estimated to produce up to 1.1 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity a year. The wind farm will meet the electricity demand of up to 300,000 European households and avoid more than 600,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2 emissions a year.
Location and site details
The Björnberget onshore wind power project is located outside the Ånge municipality, 100km west of Sundsvall and 420km north of Stockholm, in the Västernorrland province in central Sweden.
Björnberget onshore wind farm make-up
The Björnberget onshore wind farm will feature 60 SG 5.8-170 wind turbines from Siemens Gamesa, delivering a total power output of 372MW.
Each turbine will have a 170m-diameter rotor and incorporate Siemens Gamesa’s OptimaFlex customisable solution to ensure optimal performance to reduce the levelised cost of electricity (LCoE) and boost the annual energy production (AEP).
The SG 5.8-170 wind turbine is based on Siemens Gamesa’s 5.X onshore wind turbine platform. It is designed to deliver a rated power output of 6.2MW.
The Björnberget onshore wind power project involves the construction of 64km of new and upgraded roads and 130km of cabling.
Financing
The PGEIF-Enlight consortium reached finance close on the project in May 2021.
Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK), KfW IPEX-Bank and DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale agreed to provide €300m ($364m) loan for the Björnberget wind power project, with the financing tenor extending for 18 years from the completion of the wind farm construction.
Contractors involved in the Swedish wind power project
Siemens Gamesa was contracted to manufacture and supply the wind turbines for the project in October 2020. The contractual scope also includes a 15-year service agreement for the wind turbines.
Ramboll has been appointed as the owner’s engineer, whereas RES is responsible for the balance of plant (BOP) works of the project. RES will also serve as the commercial and technical manger during the operational phase of the wind farm.
Scandinavian civil engineering companies PEAB and Stenger & Ibsen Construction (SIC) were subcontracted by RES to construct 35 and 25 turbine foundations respectively for the project in February 2021.
TÜV SÜD Industrie Service, a company based in Germany, acted as the technical advisor to PGEIF and Enlight Renewable Energy to review the wind conditions, energy yield, project design, grid connection, construction contracts and schedule, along with the power purchase agreement (PPA) and capital and operating expenditures of the project.
DLA Piper, a law firm based in the UK, provided financial advisory services to PGEIF and Enlight Renewable Energy on their co-investment in the Björnberget wind farm in October 2020.
Swedish business law firm Hammarskiöld together with Simmons & Simmons Frankfurt provided legal advisory services to the syndicate of lenders providing finance for the project in May 2021.
Mannheimer Swartling, another law firm based in Sweden, provided advisory services to RES on the sale of the Björnberget wind power project to PGEIF and Enlight Renewable Energy in October 2020.
