Ilmatar Offshore, a division of the Finnish company Ilmatar Energy Oy, announced on Thursday that it has been given permission to conduct environmental assessments for a 1.2 GW offshore wind project.
The Ministry of Employment and Economy issued the seabed survey licence for the Vagskar proposal, which will be situated inside a 367 sq km (142 sq mile) area of the Finnish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Ramboll Group, a Danish engineering, architectural, and consulting business, is in charge of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) studies that are already under way. The corporation’s Finnish subsidiary will conduct a range of field investigations, maritime archaeological and biological studies, and evaluations of the area’s geophysical features.
Initial estimates indicate that all planned technical and environmental investigations will take place in 2023 and 2024, with completion of the project anticipated in the middle of 2025.
The Vagskar complex will be developed about 30 km (18.6 miles) north of the Aland archipelago in the southern Bothnian Sea. It will be close to Ilmatar’s Stormskar and Vaderskar projects and use 15-MW turbines, offering additional synergies, the business claimed.
Earlier this year, Ilmatar received study authorization to create two wind regions off the Kokkola and Vaasa beaches, both of which are a part of the EEZ.