Vattenfall Wind Farm Brings Renewable Electricity Energy Project to 50,000 Swedish Homes
Let’s hear it for another Vattenfall wind energy project. Wind power was already gaining serious momentum across Europe in 2011. In Sweden, Vattenfall also helped push that transition forward with the completion of the Stor-Rotliden wind farm.
Located north of Fredrika in Sweden’s Åsele municipality, Stor-Rotliden became one of the country’s largest onshore wind projects at the time.
The Vattenfall wind energy project includes 40 wind turbines; most notably with a combined installed capacity of approximately 78 megawatts. Together, those turbines were expected to generate roughly 240 gigawatt-hours of renewable electricity every year.
That was enough electricity to meet the annual needs of approximately 50,000 Swedish homes.
A Major Investment in Swedish Wind Power
Vattenfall also invested approximately SEK 1.5 billion to build Stor-Rotliden.
However, the project represented more than another power plant. It demonstrated how quickly large-scale renewable energy could move from planning to actual electricity production.
Construction also created hundreds of temporary jobs in the region. Once the project entered operation, local workers continued supporting its maintenance and day-to-day operations.
Therefore, the project provided both clean electricity and economic benefits for the surrounding community.
Vattenfall Expands Renewable Energy
At the time, Vattenfall considered wind power an important part of its renewable energy strategy.
The company planned to invest heavily in additional wind farms across Europe through 2015. Stor-Rotliden became an important piece of that expansion.
Moreover, the project showed the scale that land-based wind energy could achieve.
Forty turbines could produce hundreds of millions of kilowatt-hours of electricity every year without burning coal, oil or natural gas.
That matters because wind turbines produce electricity without the direct carbon dioxide emissions associated with fossil-fuel power plants.
Wind Power Was Growing Across Europe
Stor-Rotliden wasn’t operating alone.
Vattenfall was developing and operating wind projects throughout Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom.
For example, the company had already completed the massive Thanet Offshore Wind Farm off England’s southeastern coast. Thanet featured 100 turbines and 300 MW of generating capacity.
Meanwhile, Vattenfall was also developing projects such as Ormonde in the Irish Sea and additional offshore wind farms in northern Europe.
Consequently, wind energy was evolving from a relatively small alternative energy source into an increasingly important component of Europe’s electricity system.
Stor-Rotliden’s First Full Year
The numbers eventually demonstrated what the project could deliver.
Vattenfall later reported that Stor-Rotliden generated approximately 240 GWh of electricity during 2011, its first full year of production.
In addition, Vattenfall’s overall wind electricity generation increased by about 55% during 2011 as projects including Stor-Rotliden and Thanet came online.
That growth most definitely showed how quickly additional renewable generating capacity could change a utility’s electricity portfolio.
Why the 50,000-Home Number Matters
Saying a wind farm generates 240 GWh can sound abstract.
Saying it can generate electricity equivalent to the needs of 50,000 homes puts the project into perspective.
One wind farm can become a meaningful regional power source. Moreover, once operating, the turbines don’t require a continuous supply of mined or transported fuel.
Wind itself becomes the energy resource.
Of course, wind output changes with weather conditions. Therefore, utilities must combine wind with transmission, energy storage, flexible generation and other electricity resources.
Still, projects such as Stor-Rotliden demonstrated more than a decade ago that wind could operate at utility scale.
From 2011 to Today’s Clean-Energy Transition
Looking back, Stor-Rotliden represents an important point in the evolution of European renewable energy.
In 2011, a 40-turbine wind farm capable of supplying electricity equivalent to 50,000 homes represented a major renewable-energy project.
Today, wind turbines have become larger, offshore projects have expanded dramatically and individual wind farms can generate several times the capacity of projects developed during that era.
Yet the underlying idea hasn’t changed.
Build renewable generation at scale. Connect it to the grid. Then use locally available resources such as wind to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
The Green Living Guy Take
Stor-Rotliden showed what renewable energy could accomplish long before today’s massive clean-energy projects dominated the headlines.
Vattenfall took wind moving across northern Sweden and turned it into enough electricity for roughly 50,000 homes.
That’s the real power of renewable energy.
Wind doesn’t arrive by tanker. It doesn’t require drilling. And there’s no fuel bill attached to the breeze.
Once the infrastructure is built, the resource keeps showing up.
Projects such as Stor-Rotliden helped prove that clean electricity could operate at meaningful scale. More importantly, they helped establish the foundation for the much larger wind-energy industry we see today.
Sources
- Vattenfall. “Annual Report 2011.” Vattenfall, 2012.
- NS Energy. “Vattenfall Completes Stor-Rotliden Wind Farm in Sweden.” August 30, 2011.
- Vattenfall. “Vattenfall Inaugurates World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm.” 2010.
