Denmark Seeks 1500MW of New Offshore Wind

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- Denmark is ready to offer tenders for 1,500-megawatts (MW) of new offshore wind projects.

The tender process will begin this year for the construction of two large offshore windfarms according to the Danish Wind Industry Association. Bidding will kick off for the 400 MW Horns Rev-3 windfarm and the 600 MW Kriegers Flak windfarm.

Last April, the Danish government revealed new renewable energy targets that will see energy from windfarms provide half of the country's electricity needs by 2020. For additional information, see April 3, 2012, article - Denmark Raises Renewable Energy Targets.

Denmark currently gets around 30% of its electricity from windfarms. Last year it gave the green light to Kriegers Flak located in waters between Denmark and Germany and for an additional 400 MW to be constructed at the existing Horns Rev windfarm site, off the west coast of Jutland. The wind energy targets will reduce the country's dependence on coal by half.

The results of the geophysical surveys for both sites will be formally published before the March 31 but preliminary results of the studies will be announced later this month at the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) Exhibition in Vienna, Austria. The goal is to have Horns Rev-3 grid connected by January 2017 and Kriegers Flak by the summer of 2018. The other 500 MW will come from other, smaller wind projects.

At the end of 2012, wind energy accounted for more than 30% of Denmark's electricity, according to the Danish Wind Industry Association. This is a 2% improvement over 2011 and makes Denmark the leading wind energy country in the world.

"An increase of 2 percentage points may not sound as much, but it is in line with what we expect to reach the official target of 50% in 2020," explained chief economist at the Danish Wind Industry Association, Sune Strøm. "We will see a slightly larger jump in 2013, when Anholt is completed and there will again be some more increases when we connect the next big wind farms and near-shore turbines in 2017-2020."

The government has also promised more Investment in biomass and biogas while there will also be an increase in the rollout of onshore windfarms.

The 400 MW Anholt Offshore windfarm, currently under construction, is expected to be commissioned at the end of this year and will be capable of generating around 4% of the country's electricity.

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