Seabed Survey Starts for 2.1 GW Wind Project Offshore Finland

The energy company Ilmatar has started a technical seabed survey for its planned Stormskär and Väderskär offshore wind project in Finland.

The technical surveys of the seabed started by Ilmatar Offshore, a subsidiary of Ilmatar Energy Oy, are within the maritime areas north of Åland that, according to the Åland maritime spatial plan, have been proposed as suitable for offshore wind farms.

In total, the area comprises about 600 square kilometres divided into two project areas which, using existing turbine technology, would allow for a wind farm with a capacity of 2.1 GW and an annual output of 10 TWh.

Survey permission was granted by the Parliament of Åland at the end of August 2022.

The seabed surveys are funded by Ilmatar Offshore and conducted by the Finnish company Arctia, using their ship Kaiku.

“The surveys will use only acoustic methods, that is to say sound waves, which means we do not physically touch the seabed at all. The instruments all operate at relatively high frequencies with low acoustic power and are entirely harmless to marine animals and vegetation”, said Patrik Niskanen, project manager at Arctia.

The preliminary work is planned to be completed by the start of 2023 when the material gathered will be analysed and used as a basis for Ilmatar’s environmental impact assessment report.

“The data we will receive from Arctia will be very detailed and will, in the long term, determine where the wind farm as a whole and the individual turbines can and should be placed to minimise their effect on the marine environment, species, and cultural heritage”, said Stefan Husa, Head of Maritime Spatial Planning at Ilmatar.

The planned wind farm is intended to be connected to both the Swedish SE3-region and Finland and once completed, the project is expected to supply 20 per cent of Finland’s annual energy needs.

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NOTE: The original article has been amended.