Piteå, Sweden | Markbygden Net AB, the grid connection infrastructure and the associated operating company behind Phase 1 of Sweden’s largest wind farm cluster “Markbygden 1101”, was sold today to one of Sweden’s largest electricity distribution companies, Ellevio. The previous owners and project developers behind the wind farm cluster, Svevind AB and Enercon, are pleased to see the future-proof implementation of the Markbygden energy grid into the Swedish electricity network.
Sweden’s largest electricity supply grid connection point, the Råbacken substation, and the connected infrastructure in the Markbygden 1101 wind farm cluster are major assets of the transaction between former majority owner Svevind AB, minority owner Enercon and the purchasing company Ellevio. Markbygden Net AB (MB Net) connects 1,700 Megawatt of wind energy production capacity via 63 kilometers of 150 kilovolt (kV) overhead lines to the Swedish electricity backbone. The acquisition is a strategic move corresponding with Ellevio’s ambition to catalyse the country’s energy transition process and accelerate Sweden’s journey towards net-zero emissions by 2045. With the acquisition, Ellevio is establishing itself in Sweden’s northern electricity region for the first time.
“We are very proud that this important energy infrastructure project which we successfully developed and constructed is now transferred to a major electricity distribution company in Sweden”, states Wolfgang Kropp, CEO and founder of the SVEVIND Energy Group, the mother company behind Swedish project development company Svevind AB. With a capacity of 1,700 Megawatts, the Råbacken substation, located 20 kilometers west of the coastal town Piteå, is Sweden’s largest connection point to the main grid of Svenska Kraftnät and was the first privately owned asset of that kind. Anders Eriksson, CEO of MB Net adds “The size and the technical installations of the substation Råbacken show that renewable energies can contribute a large and reliable share to the energy mix in the future while providing support functions to the national grid.”
“As one of Sweden’s largest energy companies, we play a key role in the electrification of industry and transport, including the distribution of electricity from the increasing share of renewables. With the acquisition of Markbygden Net AB, we will be a long-term, reliable and engaged partner that secures the supply of green energy to growing industry needs,” says Johan Lindehag, CEO of Ellevio.
MB Net was founded in 2011 by Svevind AB and German wind turbine manufacturer Enercon to develop and provide the infrastructure necessary to connect wind turbines of the Markbygden 1101 wind farm cluster to the Swedish transmission grid. In 2013, Råbacken substation was connected to the 400 kV Swedish national main grid and the final extension was completed in 2023. In 2022, the substation transmitted approximately 2.3 Terawatt hours in the Swedish energy grid, accounting for c. 8 percent of the national wind energy production. In 2024, annual generation interconnected through the Råbacken substation is expected to increase to more than 5 Terawatt hours.
For the project developers of SVEVIND Energy Group, the right time has come to conclude its ownership of Markbygden Net AB. “After more than 12 years of planning and implementation work, as well as the successful operation of the grid connection point, we are now handing over the responsibility for successful, long-term operation into the hands of specialized grid operators and energy suppliers,” says CEO Wolfgang Kropp. “With its long-term planning and sustainable views, Ellevio is exactly the right partner for this,” he adds.
The parties worked out the contractual details and closed the transaction with the assistance of internationally renowned financial advisor Nomura Greentech and Swedish legal advisor Cirio Advokatbyrå AB. Ellevio owns Markbygden Net AB as of 20 September 2023.
About Svevind AB
Svevind AB is a privately owned renewable energy project developer based in Piteå, Sweden, and is part of the SVEVIND Energy Group. The company has successfully developed more than 3,300 MW of wind generation projects in Sweden and Finland over the past 20 years, notably including Europe’s largest and most powerful wind farm cluster – MARKBYGDEN 1101. Its multi-gigawatt development pipeline is focused on wind and green hydrogen projects in northern Sweden.
About SVEVIND Energy Group
The SVEVIND Energy Group Is a privately owned company group that develops large-scale renewable energy projects. Based in Dresden, Germany with offices in Piteå (Sweden), Almaty, and Aqtau (Kazakhstan) the company group is pioneering work in the field of renewable energy involving planning and implementing large-scale energy projects with national and international significance. For the future, SVEVIND works on its gigawatt project pipelines for renewable energy and green hydrogen in Sweden as well as in Kazakhstan.
About Ellevio
With close to one million customers, Ellevio is one of Sweden’s largest energy companies. Together with our customers we take an active role in the journey towards an increasingly electrified society. Our electricity grids are the backbone that connects producers and consumers, enable more renewable electricity, electrification of transport and industry and create opportunities for new climate-smart solutions. We have about 750 employees and employ a total of 3,000 people around the country. We are owned by the pension managers OMERS Infrastructure, AP3, Folksam and AMF.
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