Italy's Enel to build Russia's largest wind farm
As ice-cold autumn storms gathered force in the far northern Russian region, a company of Russian and Italian businessmen and state officials exchanged handshakes inside a marquee erected on desolate lands about 80 km northeast of Murmansk, on the spot that soon will house 57 major wind turbines.
Enel Green Power, a subsidiary of Italy's Enel are to build the Kolskaya Wind Farm. The facility is set to be completed by 2021, and will produce up to 750 GWh per year.
When complete, it will be the biggest wind park in Russia and one of the biggest north of the Arctic Circle.
"We are breaking ground on a strategic wind project," said Simone Mori, Enel Group’s Head of Europe and Euro-Mediterranean Affairs, said in the ceremony. "With the start of construction of this facility, we are confirming our commitment to Russia’s energy transition towards a low-carbon economy."
Also at the ceremony was Murmansk Governor Andrey Chibis, who made it clear that his region wants more green energy.
"Our objective is to turn Murmansk into a truly leading region and the use of the newest technology, like green energy, is a step in that direction," said Chibis.
The Italian company won the contract for the wind development in 2017. It was based on a tender organised by the Russian government and has a total cost frame of €273-million. It was part of a government bid to develop more renewable energy.
The power plant will be built on the very same spot where Dutch company Windlife Energy and its Russian subsidiary Windlife Arctic Power lobbied for the development of a similar wind project for several years.
Those plans, however, never materialised.
The Kolskaya Wind Farm will provide additional power to the Northwest Russian region, or Oblast, that is already a major producer of electricity. Murmansk Oblast today produces about 60% of its energy from nuclear power and the remaining 40% from hydropower.
Critics of the project argue that the far northern region actually does not need the additional power generating capacities.
Russia is looking to increase its renewable energy and the country’s 2009 Energy Strategy outlined an ambition to generate and consume up to 4.5% of its power from alternative renewable sources by 2020.
The Murmansk wind project is part of that plan
Russia's energy transformation is, however, nowhere near that 4.5% target at present. According to a recent report in the Kommersant newspaper, federal investment in renewable sources in Russia for the ten years between 2025 and 2035 will see an increase in capacity of just 5 GW.
Back to Homepage
Back to Energy & Utilities