Northern Europe-focused real estate manager Niam has secured further large scale solar projects in Sweden via its infrastructure fund.
The firm's framework agreement with Solkompaniet has brought its development portfolio to about 300 MW across five, large scale solar projects, a potential investment volume of some SEK 2 bn (€170 mln).
Once commissioned, the solar parks could produce 300 GWh of electricity annually, corresponding to the electricity use of 72,000 households in central and southern Sweden, areas currently experiencing an electricity supply shortage.
'Niam’s goal is to initiate the development of additional solar parks under the framework agreement in the coming years and thereby grow and diversify the portfolio even further.' said Sverker Åkerblom, CEO of Niam Infrastructure.
The goal is to develop and build solar parks of up to 500 MW together with Solkompaniet.
The current portfolio is well diversified both geographically and by land classification, according to Niam.
All projects are situated in the southern part of Sweden with excellent conditions for solar power, including good access to grid infrastructure.
The projects are located in price areas 3 and 4 in the counties of Skåne, Östergötland, Västergötland and Kronoberg. The projects are expected to reach ready-to-build during 2024 and 2025 with commissioning of the first project expected around the turn of the year 2026/27.
Sweden has in the last few years experienced a boom for roof-top solar installations with homeowners accounting for half of the installed power. The expansion of large scale solar is now also gaining momentum with significant potential ahead.
'Through these investments Niam shows that solar parks will be a part of the Swedish energy system going forward. The construction period for a large solar park is just 6 to 12 months. Critical to enable a quick deployment is to shorten the permitting and grid connection processes.' added Axel Alm, CEO of Solkompaniet.
