“uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç

The Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) has acquired a 30% share in Estonian wind development company Vardar Eurus AS for a price tag of EUR 3 million. NEFCO is an environment fund based in Helsinki which manages EUR 115 million in capital investments. It is backed by the governments of the five Nordic countries -- Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Norway and Finland. Norwegian energy company Vardar remains the largest shareholder in Vardar Eurus. The acquisition gives NEFCO part ownership of what will be one of Estonian's largest wind projects, the EUR 24.7 million OU Pakri Tuulepark wind farm in the Paldiski Peninsula on the Gulf of Finland (“uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç, June 2004). The 18.4 MW project of eight 2.3 MW turbines, supplied by Nordex under a EUR 20 million deal, is under construction and due for full commissioning by March. When complete it will produce 56 GWh of electricity a year, 1% of Estonia's total power supply. It is one the first wind plant being developed as a joint implementation project under the Kyoto Protocol, with economic feasibility achieved through the sale of approximately 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide reductions to Finland.