The signatories to the Energy Agreement of 29 June 2018 recently decided the location of the first of three new offshore wind farms that will be put up for tender.
The new offshore wind farm is named 'Thor' after Thorsminde, the nearest village on the shore of Jutland.
On 29 June 2018 the government entered into an agreement with all parties in Parliament. The agreement set a clear goal of turning Denmark into a net-zero emissions society by 2050 at the latest – meaning that there will be a balance between the amount of greenhouse gas emitted and removed from the atmosphere.
The agreed first step was to establish the basis for up to 55% of Danish energy consumption to be based on renewable energy by 2030. According to the agreement, this would be achieved by establishing three new offshore wind farms by 2030.
Thor is the first of these three offshore wind farms.
Thor – the new Danish offshore wind farm
Thor will be an offshore wind farm situated in the North Sea, approximately 20 kilometres offshore, and will be the biggest offshore wind farm in Denmark. The construction phase could generate as much as 8,200 jobs. The wind farm will have a capacity of between 800MW and 1,000MW and will supply electricity to 800,000 households. The wind turbines at Thor are expected to have a wing diameter of 164 metres and a capacity of 13MW to 15MW.
Thor will be tendered during 2019 and is expected to be grid-connected between 2024 and 2027.
The overall procurement model for Thor was published on 12 March 2019. As with earlier procurements, it will be a competitive procedure with negotiation.
However, unlike previous projects in which the government (through the state-owned Energinet) was responsible for developing the offshore site and preparing the grid connection, Thor will be procured through a procedure in which the winning tender will be responsible for developing and preparing the grid connection.
Consequently, the winning tender will be responsible for developing and establishing everything from the wind farm to the transformer stations for connection to the onshore electricity grid. Energinet will be responsible only for establishing and operating the onshore grid connection.
Locations of two additional offshore wind farms yet to be decided
Thor is the first of three new offshore wind farms. The locations for the other wind farms have still not been decided, but three different areas in Denmark are part of a screening process undertaken by the international consulting group COWI. It is expected that the other wind farms, which are also planned to be at least 800MW, will be tendered independently.
The areas being screened for the remaining offshore wind farms are in Jammerbugten, Hesselø and Krigers Flak in the Baltic Sea.
This article was first published by the International Law Office, a premium online legal update service for major companies and law firms worldwide. Register for a free subscription.
