VSB Group has commissioned the 148MW Karahka wind farm in Finland’s Northern Ostrobothnia region.
Owned by the Finnish utility company Helen and the Bank of Aland Wind Power Special Investment Fund, the facility’s 25 wind turbines are spread across an area of approximately 2300 hectares.
For the wind farm VSB, Nordex and partners decided to use an innovative solution for the tower construction where each of consists of 27 concrete tower blocks with a steel section on top.
This allows greater hub heights.
The concrete components for the hybrid towers were locally produced by Lujabetoni in Karsamaki.
The collaborative project between Lujabetoni and Nordex for manufacturing the Karahka concrete parts won the public vote for ‘Wind Power Project of the Year’ by the Finnish Wind Power Association.
VSB Finland began developing the Karahka wind power project in 2016.
In 2022, the project entered its construction phase when building permits were issued.
In the same year, VSB sold Karahka to Helen and the Bank of Aland Wind Power Special Investment Fund, while remaining responsible for construction and commissioning.
Felix Grolman, CEO of VSB Group, said: "With the commissioning of Karahka, VSB demonstrates its comprehensive expertise – from project development and approval to construction.
“This impressive team achievement underlines our position as a reliable partner in the energy transition.
“We look forward to our next major projects in Finland, which are already in preparation."
Helen holds the majority ownership of the wind farm with a 51% stake.
“The Karahka wind farm is a significant addition to the emission-free electricity supply of Helen and Finland as a whole.
“This strengthens Finland’s competitive advantage by lowering electricity prices, enabling investments based on clean and affordable power. The wind farm's completion also supports Helen’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2030 and the transition to geographically distributed, carbon-neutral power generation,” said Pekka Tolonen, VP of power generation at Helen.
“It is great to complete a construction project that took approximately 2.5 years, both on time and within budget.
“What makes this project particularly special is its exceptionally high domestic content, with the concrete towers manufactured by Lujabetoni.
“The collaboration with VSB has been excellent, and I extend my thanks to them and all contractors for a successful project.
“Most importantly, the commissioning of the wind farm will enable us, together with our partner Helen, to produce significantly more renewable electricity for the Finnish market,” said Jimmy Forsman, portfolio manager of the Bank of Aland Wind Power Fund.
