HELSINKI June 17 (Reuters) – Finnish utilities, including Fortum (FUM1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), said on Tuesday they have started two different projects, planning to increase the Nordic country's wind power production up to 30-fold in coming years.
Fortum said it had reserved two offshore areas in northwestern Finland for wind power plants, with total capacity seen at 1,150 to 1,300 MW.
Separately, two regional unitlies said they have started to seek for additional wind power capacity of 1,000 to 2,000 MW.
Finland's total wind power capacity was 107 MW last year, producing 0.2 percent of the energy consumed in the country, Finnish wind power association said.
Fortum said the new wind farms could begin to generate electricity in 2014-2016.
"Our aim is to increase wind power production substantially by 2025… We are also interested in other offshore wind sites in Finland," Arja Koski, an official responsible for Fortum's wind power investments, said in a statement.
Separately, regional utilities Helsingin Energia and Etela-Pohjanmaan Voima (EPV) said they have formed a 50-50 joint venture to develop offshore wind power plants.
The venture aims to find two areas for plants off the Finnish coast in the Baltic Sea and to build two significant plants with capacity of 500 MW to 1,000 MW each. (Reporting by Tarmo Virki)
