Ilmatar’s first Swedish solar farm has become fully permitted and now stands ready to be built. The 55MWp site will be constructed on two locations covering approximately 54 hectares of land in Knihult, Småland, southern Sweden. In addition to solar panels, a 20MW battery to balance the power and allow optimal use of renewable energy is planned to be installed at both sites. Ilmatar aims to start building the project during spring 2024 and grid connection is planned for early 2025.
“More renewable energy is needed to accelerate green transition,” said Ilmatar Solar AB managing director Christian Gustafsson. “Solar energy has immense potential in Sweden. Knihult’s solar farm will be our first, but by no means last. “I look forward to start building it and then connecting the farm to the grid.” The land where Knihult’s solar farm will be built was previously used for peat extraction and will be restored to wetland before solar panels are installed. Due to its previous use, the land area would not be suitable for food production. With a solar farm on it, the land will be used to provide Southern Sweden the much-needed renewable energy said Ilmatar.
Ilmatar started operations in Sweden in the beginning of 2022 and said the Knihult project is the latest indication of the company’s rapid growth in Sweden. Since starting operations there, Ilmatar has leased enough land to generate 4.2 terawatt hours of solar power per year it stated. This meets the electricity demand of approximately 210,000 houses. “I am excited to see Ilmatar’s growth in Sweden,” said the power producer’s chief executive Juha-Pekka Weckström. “We have said that we are strongly committed to starting renewable energy production in Sweden, and Knihult is a great concrete step forward in our journey. “In general, we have succeeded well in finding and leasing suitable land for solar energy production, especially taking into consideration the challenging grid situation.”
Credits: renews.biz [Image: Ilmatar]