Skyborn kicks off survey work for 2.5 GW Pooki offshore wind farm in Finland

Skyborn Renewables has started site investigations in Finland, at a location where the company plans to build the 2.5 GW Pooki offshore wind farm, an extension of the former Suurhiekka project which was also being developed by Skyborn (wpd at the time).

The work started with bird and subsea acoustic surveys at the project site in Bothnian Bay, 25 kilometers offshore, in waters off Oulu, Ii, Simo and Kemi.

The bird studies started during the spring migration and will continue at least until the fall migration. The acoustic surveys will start during the summer and will continue until the fall.

The surveys will be carried out during both 2024 and 2025 and the data collected will be analyzed against data from the previous studies in the area and used to support the future environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the project.

Skyborn signed a five-year reservation agreement with the Finnish state-owned enterprise Metsähallitus in July 2023, securing exclusive rights to develop the Pooki offshore wind farm in that timeframe.

Following obtaining a legally binding land use plan and a water permit for the project, the reservation agreement gives the developer the exclusive right to continue surveys in the area where the company was previously developing the Suurhiekka offshore wind project.

The Pooki offshore wind farm is planned to have between 85 and 185 wind turbines and a maximum output of 2,600 MW.

The amount of fossil-free electricity produced annually is proportional to the annual production of a modern large nuclear power plant, according to Skyborn Renewables.

The Pooki project is expected to be completed in the early 2030s.