Fortum wins contract to boost Nordic solar electricity capacity by 30%

A leading clean-energy company, with a portfolio spanning the Nordic and Baltic countries, has won a power generation contract to significantly bolster Finland’s solar electricity capacity.

Fortum announced this week that it had won S Group’s competitive bidding process for the implementation of a solar electricity system on the rooftops of around 40 commercial buildings across Finland.

Providing a total of 10MW of solar capacity, the project stands as the “biggest ever supply of rooftop solar electricity” systems to be installed on rooftops in the history of the Nordic countries.

Through the contract, Fortum will be responsible for project planning, management and equipment procurement. The company has targeted an autumn 2018 completion date for the project.

“Realising our vision – For a cleaner world – isn’t easy nor can it be accomplished overnight. Fortunately, it is a goal that is also shared by many other companies and communities, and this S Group project to utilise solar energy in their commercial buildings is a prime example of that,” says Tatu Kulla, Head of Business Development, Fortum.

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“The entire S Group has a shared goal to use our own renewable energy to produce 80 per cent of the electricity we consume in 2025. Our sites’ electricity consumption peaks during summer, right when the sunlight lasts longer and is more intense. In the best cases, during summer we can produce enough solar energy to satisfy 100% of the electricity needs of one building,” says Mikko Halonen, Managing Director, S-Voima.

“We chose Fortum to supply our solar electricity systems because its products and processes are reliable and audited. The life-cycle of a solar electricity system is decades long. We trust Fortum’s ability to meet its obligations years into the future,” Halonen continues.

According to Reuters, the total solar power production capacity in Finland neared 35 MW by the end of 2017 and adding the new installations will increase the country’s output by about 30 percent.