National utility Statkraft's plans for 80 MW

National utility Statkraft has applied for a concession to build a new 80 MW wind power plant at Kvenndalsfjellet in the Åfjord region. The company is prepared to invest some NKK 650 million (EUR 79.1 million) in the project for two adjacent wind plant of between 20 and 40 turbines. Statkraft is confident that turbines with capacity ratings of up to 5 MW will become available. The utility intends to make a formal application for the installation next year, with the hope that building work can begin in 2007. A final approval for the project still looks some way off, however. Projected annual electricity production from the plant is 240 GWh, enough to supply up to 40,000 households. Central to the plans for Kvenndalsfjellet and other proposals for power plant development in the area is the construction of new transmission lines along the Fosen peninsula. Statnett, responsible for the national grid, has already begun project planning for the new connection. Meanwhile, the initial response from the Åfjord local authority has been positive, not least because of the money being invested in the area, up to NKK 1.5 billion (EUR 182.4 million), and the jobs that will be created.