GE & Green Investment Group To Build Europe’s Largest Onshore Wind Farm

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GE Renewable Energy and the Green Investment Group have this week announced they will be working to deliver the 650 megawatt Markbygden ETT wind farm in Sweden which, upon completion, will be the largest single-site onshore wind farm in Europe.

As announced on Tuesday, GE Renewable Energy will partner with the Green Investment Group — recently acquired from the UK Government by Australia bank Macquarie Group for £2.3 billion — as 50/50 equity investors to acquire the 650 megawatt (MW) Markbygden ETT project from wind developer Svivind. Construction of the project has already begun, and GE Renewable Energy will supply 179 of its 3.6 MW wind turbines, with completion expected by the end of 2019.

At that point, Markbygden ETT is expected to be the single largest onshore wind farm in Europe.

The Markbygden ETT project is the result of over 15 years of development by Svevind, development work which might end up populating the Markbygden 1101-area with up to 1,101 wind turbines in what would become the largest collection of wind farms in Europe.

“Having worked on the development of the Markbygden cluster of wind farm projects since 2002, Svevind is very excited to see this partnership with GE Renewables, GE Energy Financial Services, and the Green Investment Group come to fruition,” said Wolfgang Kropp, CEO of Svevind. “We are pleased to see the success of our hard work demonstrated by the attention the Markbygden ETT project has attracted from world class institutions such as these. We look forward to seeing this project, and future projects around Markbygden, constructed and contributing to the much-needed fight against climate change.”

“We are excited to have been chosen by Svevind to contribute to this massive project,” added Pete McCabe, President & CEO of GE’s Onshore Wind Business. “Markbygden ETT marks our commitment to the Swedish onshore wind arena and extends our presence in Europe while showcasing our technical capabilities — with LM Wind Power — and project development and management differentiators.”

Together, GE Renewable Energy and Green Investment Group Limited (which is now part of the Macquarie Group) raised approximately €800 million ($928 million) in financing for the project.

“This project is a landmark transaction on many fronts and represents the new frontier in European onshore wind,” said Edward Northam, Head of the Green Investment Group in Europe. “It demonstrates that in the right market, with the right location, the right technology and the right partners, it is possible to develop and attract private capital into new onshore wind farms.”


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Joshua S Hill

I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket! I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.

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