Germany's Nordex wins 400-MW Norwegian wind turbine order

German supplier Nordex has been contracted to supply turbines to the 400-MW Oyfjellet wind farm project in the Vefsn municipality in Norway, project developer Eolus said Tuesday.

The wind farm has a 15-year power purchase agreement with Aluminium producer Alcoa, which has a production unit nearby in Mosjoen.

The project is to comprise 72, N149 turbines with rotor diameters of 149 meters and a hub height of 105 meters.

Eolus sold the project to Aquila Capital last year but will manage construction, with completion expected during the autumn of 2021. It also has a 15-year service agreement with Aquila to maximize outcome from the facility.

Nordex said the mountainous location, 600-800 meters above sea level, was characterized by strong wind conditions and a cold climate, requiring anti-icing systems.

Assuming a 45% load factor, the wind farm would produce around 1.58 TWh a year. In March 2018, when the PPA with Alcoa was announced, the project was to be 330 MW with output of around 1.3 TWh.

By commissioning in 2021 the wind farm will qualify for electricity certificates within the common Norwegian and Swedish system.

The two countries have had a common elcert market since 2012. The joint market allows trading of certificates in either country.

In Norway, plants must be commissioned before January 1, 2022 to be eligible for certificates.

More than 90 onshore wind licenses have been granted in Norway for the equivalent of 22 TWh a year of generation.

As of the third quarter of 2019, 6.7 TWh/year of onshore wind capacity had been commissioned, with 7.3 TWh under construction, Norwegian energy agency NVE said.

In a separate statement Tuesday, Nordex said it had an order backlog of Eur5.5 billion ($5.99 billion) at the start of the year, up 43% from the start of 2019.

While forecasting consolidated sales of Eur4.2 billion-Eur4.8 billion for the current financial year, Nordex said the group's performance was subject "to significant uncertainty, which primarily result from the action that has already been and has yet to be taken in many countries to contain the [coronavirus], and from the spread of the disease itself."

It was too early to assess the consequences "of this new, complex and continuously changing situation," it said.

Last year it installed 938 turbines (2018: 828) in 21 countries with a total output of 3.1 GW in 2019 (2018: 2.5 GW).