O2’s roots go back to 1991 when Göte Niklasson founded the business that is operated today by O2’s subsidiary O2 Vindkompaniet AB. O2 was founded in 2005 by Johan Ihrfelt and Thomas von Otter and in the same year acquired Vindkompaniet from the Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas. O2’s core business concept became the development and marketing of turnkey wind power plants to industrial and financial investors.
The Parent Company, O2 Vind, has three operating subsidiaries, O2 Vindkompaniet, O2 Vindel and O2 Kraft. The company has a total of 42 employees located at offices in Stockholm, Östersund, Kiruna and Mörbylånga on Öland.
O2 Vindkompaniet
O2 Vindkompaniet’s business activities comprise the development, procurement, financing, marketing and construction of wind power projects in the Swedish market. The company is behind approximately one fifth of the existing wind power capacity in Sweden. Local offices, long experience and an established market presence have furnished the company with detailed market knowledge, which constitutes a significant competitive advantage when developing wind power projects.
Favourable wind conditions and advantageous conditions for establishment comprise the key components to profitable wind power production. O2 Vindkompaniet has signed leasehold agreements for a substantial portion of the most advantageous wind locations in Sweden where the establishment of wind power is possible. The portfolio comprises slightly more than 1,800 MW of power potential at approximately 40 locations. All of these locations have favourable wind conditions. The projects are located in various sites in Sweden on the coastline and inland as well as from the north to the south of the country.
In 2010, O2 Vindkompaniet sold and constructed three wind power projects, Brahehus, Hedbodberget II and Granberg with a total installed capacity of 42.7 MW. All projects were handed over to the buyers by the date of the signing of this Annual Report.
O2 Vindel
O2 offers all electricity consumers in Sweden the opportunity to become co-owners of wind turbines through wind shares. The co-owners become members of the O2 El Ekonomisk Förening wind power co-operative, through which they jointly own the wind turbines. O2 administers the co-operative and operates the seven coowned wind turbines completed thus far. In total, the co-operative comprises more than 3,000 members in the form of private individuals, smaller companies and housing cooperatives, which together have purchased approximately 35,000 wind shares. A shareholder
with ten shares equivalent to 10,000 kWh saves approximately SEK 5,000 per year (based on the electricity price in 2010).
In 2010, O2 Vindel has developed operations to include the sale of entire wind turbines to medium electricity consumers such as smaller property companies, municipalities and municipal management companies.
O2’s presence, throughout the chain, from the first wind measurement to the construction of the wind turbines and the generation of electricity furnishes O2 with the ability to offer wind shares on a large scale and the sale of entire wind turbines located in Sweden’s prime wind locations.
O2 Kraft
O2 Kraft provides services in operations monitoring, management, administration and specialist assignments for Swedish wind power producers. Maximising the production output and availability of the wind turbine requires diligent monitoring and skilled personnel. A production outage that is not quickly remedied means many valuable kilowatt-hours going to waste. O2 Kraft provides long-term, cost-efficient monitoring and operation of wind power which is tailored for wind turbines under warranty and for wind turbines where the warranty has expired. Currently, the company has operational responsibility for about 70 wind power plants and assesses the prospect for new sales as favourable in 2011.
Read full presentation of O2:s organisation