NORDEX TO SUPPLY 118 TURBINES TO SWEDISH WINDFARMS

Nordex SE (Norderstedt, Germany), a manufacturer and supplier of wind energy systems, and energy utility company Skelleftea Kraft AB (Skelleftea, Sweden) have signed a framework agreement under which the former will supply 118 wind turbines, each with capacities of 2.5 MW to Skelleftea. The turbines will be installed at the 250 MW Blaiken windfarm project and two forerunner projects: the 20 MW Storliden windfarm and the 25-MW Jokkmokksliden windfarm. The Blaiken project will be Sweden's largest windfarm project, and when completed, the three windfarms will generate more than 700,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) per year of green electricity.

Nordex has configured the N100 turbine to operate in low and moderate wind conditions. The turbine is particularly suited for average wind speeds of 7.5 mps. The turbine has a 100 m rotor blade diameter.

All three projects are being developed in Västerbotten County in northern Sweden, where wind speeds are known to reach 7 meters per second. Nordex will be supplying Skelleftea with the "cold climate" version of its turbines, which have an advanced de-icing system. The first set of turbines will be installed this year, and the smaller projects will be connected to the grid in 2011. Preparatory work for the first 100 installations is already under way.

Carsten Pedersen, the chief operating officer for sales and marketing at Nordex, said that the Skelleftea order demonstrates the company's ability to adapt products to the cold, icy conditions that prevail in Sweden.

In the past two years, Nordex has installed more than 120 MW of wind power projects in Sweden. Since 2006, when the company opened its office in Sweden, Nordex has built 47 wind turbines for installations across the country. Since 1985, when the company first began operations, Nordex has installed more than 4,000 wind turbine units in 34 countries. The multi-megawatt class turbine launched in 2000 accounts for about 52 percent of the company's globally installed nominal output of 5,670 MW. The company's Gamma Generation, or the third-generation of the 2.5-MW series, is a combination of the latest research and development, with technical experience and knowledge gathered over a decade of operations.

The 30 MW Storrun windfarm at Krokom Municipality in Jämtland County includes twelve 2.5 MW Nordex wind turbines. The project was developed by energy company Dong Energy A/S (Frederica, Denmark) and began operations in 2009. The 9 MW Lundakra windfarm at Landskrona Municipality in Skåne County includes two N90 Nordex wind turbines. The project is being developed by energy company E.ON Sverige AB (Malmö, Sweden). In 2007, leading wind energy developer Global Green Energy (Aarhus, Denmark) had contracted Nordex to supply 14 N90 turbines for the Bondön windfarm in Sweden. In the same year, Rabbaldshede Kraft AB (Rabbaldshedde, Sweden) placed an order for six N90 turbines for the Huds Moar windfarm project.

In an effort to meet the emissions-reduction targets outlined by the European Union, the government of Sweden has set ambitious targets for installing wind power capacity. The government plans to source at least 10 million MWh of electricity from wind power by 2015. Experts estimate that about 3,000 MW of new power generating capacity will be added to the nation's power portfolio within the same time frame. At the end of 2009, more than 1,550 MW of wind power projects were in operation in Sweden.

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