Fimpec provides Enefit Green with 360° services to develop a wind farm

Enefit Green’s first Finnish wind farm is taking shape in the Tolpanvaara area in the municipality of Pudasjärvi in northern Finland. Fimpec is the owner’s engineer for Enefit Green in the project.

Enefit Green, an Estonian renewable energy producer, is currently building its first Finnish wind farm Tolpanvaara, Pudasjärvi. The 13 wind turbines to be erected in the area will annually produce up to 76 gigawatt hours of green electricity. The construction work, started in February 2022, has progressed such that the erection of the wind turbines will start during the spring of 2023. The start of electricity production is planned for autumn 2024.

“The project has proceeded as planned and on schedule. One factor in favour of the project was that all parties are seasoned players in the wind power industry,” says Chief Operating Officer Heikki Karjalainen, who is in charge of the project on behalf of Fimpec.

Fimpec in charge of owner’s engineering and worksite management and supervision at the installation stage

Enefit Green is the renewable energy subsidiary of Eesti Energia and owns 22 wind farms and 38 solar parks in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The official owner of the Finnish Tolpanvaara facility will be Enefit Green’s Finnish subsidiary Tolpanvaara Wind Farm Oy.

Enefit Green decided to use Fimpec’s Owner’s Engineering service for the construction project at Tolpanvaara. This means that Fimpec is responsible for liaison with authorities, communications, stakeholder engagement, engineering design and planning reviews, monitoring of construction progress, cost management and reporting as well as on-site supervision and safety coordination.

As the project progresses, the installation stage duties will additionally include main responsibility for on-site supervision as well as supervision and safety coordination. Once the wind park is completed, Fimpec will also have supervision duties during the warranty period.

“We are supporting this project with our wide range of experience and knowledge of wind power projects, infrastructure development and project implementation. You could say that the main focus of our input is on safety, quality control and scheduling. Fimpec’s familiarity with international projects is also an asset, as it helps us understand different ways of working and, if necessary, we can help non-Finnish partners to understand and comply with Finnish building codes,” Karjalainen says.

Keeping it all together is key in wind, solar and hydrogen projects

The Tolpanvaara wind park in Pudasjärvi is one of many wind power projects that Fimpec participates in or has participated in, besides several hydrogen and solar power projects. Jorma Paananen, Business Unit Director, Infrastructure, believes that Fimpec has a wide range of solid know-how, based both on experience and knowledge, concerning the preparations, scheduling, procurement and on-site operations of such projects. He feels this gives the company good capabilities to respond to the needs on the market.

“The trend in wind, solar and hydrogen projects is that project owners increasingly want to source the preparation work, commissioning of engineering and construction, procurements and supervision services from a single supplier. Since we can manage the entire project life cycle, we are able to respond to these needs and offer these services from a single source. In addition to that, we can offer expert and engineering services for this industry,” Paananen says.

“Our broad range of expertise also helps us manage such full-scope projects, which is a vital requirement for staying on budget and on schedule. From the customer’s point of view, the optimal scenario is if we can bring our expertise to the project early on and help them to make good decisions and also to see any risks well in advance,” Paananen points out.