Project Tonstad, a 208 MW wind farm in Norway to start commercial operation and supply electricity to Hydro from 2020

In July 2018, ENGIE and SUSI signed the financing agreements for Project Tonstad, a 208 MW wind farm in Norway to supply power to the aluminium sector.  The project, which is currently under construction in the south of Norway will be one of the largest in Norway, and will supply all electricity generated through an off-take agreement, to the Norwegian aluminium producer Hydro. A media update from the project has confirmed that commercial operation will start from early 2020. The first turbine is planned to start operation by end of August 2019. At the end of June, the first blade (70m long) was transported from the port to the site through very challenging winding roads that needed modifications to in order to let the vehicle pass.

Project Tonstad is located in the municipalities of Sirdal and Flekkefjord in the South of Norway. The project has installed 51 turbines supplied by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. The project will sell all energy produced to Hydro Energi, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Norwegian aluminium producer Hydro. The plant will have an annual production of around 0.7 TWh, and will save approximately 180,000 tons of CO2 emission. 

ENGIE, a global energy and services group, which has a 20% stake in the project, developed the project and will continue to manage the construction and provide operational support to the windfarm. SUSI Partners AG (SUSI), an innovative Swiss asset manager specializing in sustainable infrastructure investments, has 80% stake in the project. The company provided financial structuring support.  The project debt financing package for the wind farm is provided by German Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW).

Hydro Energi signed a green Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to offtake all the electricity produced for 25 years. Hydro can produce around 50,000 tons of aluminium every year at its Norwegian plants with electricity from this renewable source.