Russia to build its first offshore wind farm
Chinese energy company Sinomec Li Yan and the Russian Direct Investment Fund will invest €130m ($138m) in Russia's first offshore wind farm in Karelia in the northwest of the country. The White Sea wind farm will generate 60 MWh and construction will begin in 2017, according to the the Karelian government. It is expected more than 65% of the equipment will be provided by Russian companies and 230 jobs will be created.

Originally published on Renewables International.

Russia goes offshore. A cooperation deal signed by Karelian Governor Aleksandr Khudilainen and Vice President of Chinese energy company Sinomec Li Yan includes the investment of €130 million in an offshore wind park located off the coast of Karelia.

The White Sea park will have a capacity of 60 MWh and is planned to be built in the period 2017-2020, the regional government informs. The development of this project will not only improve the energy situation, it will also create jobs and promote the image of the republic, says regional leader Khudilainen. The Republic of Karelia is today dependent of its hydro power generation and energy imports from the neighboring regions of Murmansk and Leningrad Oblast.

More than 65% of the project equipment will be provided by Russian companies and 200 jobs will be created in the construction phase. About 30 people will be employed in the production phase, the regional government says.

Financing is provided by Sinomec along with the Russian Direct Investment Fund. «Wind generation is interesting for our company, we know that Russia today supports clean energy projects and are ready to develop in the republic», Sinomec Vice President Li Yan says. Sinomec is from before investing in the development of new hydropower station in Karelia. The Chinese company is one of the stakeholders in the Beloporozhsky project, the first investment object in Russia of BRICS investment body New Development Bank.

Russia today has only a handful of wind power projects and none offshore.

Reprinted with permission.

Sign up for Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Former Tesla Battery Expert Leading Lyten Into New Lithium-Sulfur Battery Era — Podcast: I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ... Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps —— grow. So ...