Finnish independent energy producer (IPP) Ilmatar has announced plans to develop a 350MW solar power plant in Vermland County’s Grums municipality, central Sweden.

The company has reached a 50-year lease agreement with landowners in Grums so that the solar plant, one of the largest in the country, can be built on 300–400 hectares of leased property.

It will be located in a forest area that has been damaged by bark beetles and therefore cannot be utilised for other purposes.

With an annual clean energy generation capacity of 350 gigawatt-hours, the solar plant will meet the energy requirements of 17,500 households.

The company has leased enough land in Sweden in under a year to generate 4.2 terawatt-hours of solar power annually, enough to power 210,000 households.

Ilmatar Solar CEO Christian Gustafsson stated: “We are strongly committed to expanding renewable energy production in Sweden and look forward to finishing construction and connecting the farm to the main grid as soon as all permits are in place. The Grums farm is a long-awaited boost for energy production and is of special local importance.”

In early June 2023, the company announced the development of two solar plants in Finland with a combined capacity of 230MW.

These plants will be located in Huutokoski and Vuotsinsuo in the Joroinen municipality. Their grid connection is expected in early 2025.

In September 2022, the company unveiled plans to build a 550MW solar plant in Sweden in the municipality of Motala, Östergötland.