World's Biggest Offshore Windfarm Begins Operation in Denmark

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Denmark is celebrating the inauguration of the world's largest offshore windfarm, Horns Rev 2, 30 kilometres off the western coast of the country. The windfarm will, when fully operational, boast 91 wind turbines and produce 209 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough for an estimated 200,000 homes.

The installation is the world's largest offshore windfarm for now, but it will be vastly overshadowed in coming years by the likes of the London Array project in the Thames Estuary, which will be the world's first 1-gigawatt (GW) windfarm when completed in 2012. Owned by Danish company DONG Energy (Skaerbaek), Germany's E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY) (Dusseldorf) and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), London Array will sport up to 341 turbines on the 90-square-mile site. For additional information, see related news item from May 19, 2009 - World's Largest Windfarm Gets Green Light.

DONG Energy also owns Horns Rev 2, which was officially opened by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik, Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, and Chairman of the Board of DONG Energy Fritz H. Schur, among others.

"Expansion of wind power is a cornerstone of DONG Energy's strategy in the years ahead," said Schur. "Therefore, establishing Horns Rev 2 is an important milestone in DONG Energy's gradual transition from conventional to green power generation. In many ways, the establishment of Horns Rev 2 is a final test piece for DONG Energy. Half of the world's current offshore wind power capacity was constructed by us. This inauguration of the world's largest offshore windfarm underlines that DONG Energy is among the frontrunners in the field."

By 2020, DONG Energy aims to triple production capacity of renewable energy and, in the coming months, plans to open five new windfarms.

The project took 18 months to complete and uses 91 Siemens SWP 2.3-93 wind turbines. Horns Rev 2 and Denmark's first offshore windfarm, Horns Rev, have a combined capacity of 369 MW. Horns Rev 2 pushes Denmark's wind power contribution to more than 20% of the country's total energy generation.

In May this year, the Danish Energy Association invited energy companies to bid for the chance to build the country's largest offshore wind project to date, a 400-MW windfarm off the west coast of Denmark's Anholt Island. For additional information, see related news item from May 5, 2009 - Denmark Invites Bidders to Build 400-Megawatt Offshore Windfarm.

Denmark has ambitious plans for wind, and according to the Danish Wind Turbine Owners' Association (Aarhus, Denmark) and the Danish Wind Industry Association (Frederiksberg, Denmark), wind power generation capacity can be ramped up to 50% of Denmark's total power generation by 2020.

IIR's Renewable Energy Database provides extensive coverage on the Wind Energy, Geothermal, Hydroelectric, Landfill Gas-to-Energy and Utility-Scale Solar power plants throughout North America, and now expanding coverage across the world.

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