Swedish solar developer Alight and food retailer Axfood have inked a power purchase agreement (PPA) to build Sweden's largest solar park, the companies said on June 21.
Under the deal, Alight will build, own and operate the solar farm in Hallstavik, north of Stockholm, and Axfood will acquire the produced electricity for "a low, fixed price for 12 years", the firms said.
The predicted capacity of 64 MW will make it three times as large as any other Swedish solar park at the estimated date of commissioning in the second quarter of 2024.
Construction had started in last week, with the park set to occupy 71 hectares of land, equivalent to 101 soccer fields and able to deliver about 63 GWh of electricity per year, enough to power around 12,600 single Swedish homes.
"While we have our sights set on continuing to reduce our environmental impact, we also want to contribute to increasing the amount of renewable electricity on the market," said Axfood CEO Klas Balkow.
The park also marks the first time a solar park in Sweden is financed through debt instead of equity, indicating a shift in the feasibility of large-scale solar in Sweden, according to Alight CEO Harald Oeverholm. The debt financing is being provided by Swedish bank SEB.
Alight is developing over 1,000 MW of PPA-based projects across Sweden, with at least a further 250 MW under development across the rest of Europe.
