Anholt Offshore Wind Farm will be the largest in Denmark

The political parties behind the energy agreement of February 2008 have accepted the offer from DONG Energy to build and operate Anholt Offshore Wind Farm.

The Danish Minister for Climate and Energy, Lykke Friis, has june 22 accepted the offer from DONG Energy to build and operate Anholt Offshore Wind Farm. The decision is backed by all parties behind the energy agreement which created the basis for the tender for the wind farm. The energy agreement was concluded by the Government (Conservatives and Liberals) and the Social Democrats, Danish People's Party, Socialist People's Party, Social Liberals and New Alliance (Now: Liberal Alliance). When the wind farm is in operation by 2012, it will deliver renewable electricity to what corresponds to the annual electricity consumption of 400.000 households. Moreover, Denmark will be almost 1 percentage point closer to the goal of 30% renewable energy by 2020.

The tender of Anholt offshore wind farm has thus been concluded. DONG Energy, which was the sole bidder on the tender, has offered to build and operate the wind farm for 105,1 øre/kWh (~14 €c/kWh). This price is fixed for the delivery of the first 20 TWh, which approximates to 12-13 years of production. Hereafter, the electricity produced will be sold on market terms without subsidies for the rest of the wind farms lifetime.

“Todays decision takes us yet another step towards the conversion of the Danish energy supply to renewable energy. That is a good thing for the climate and for our independence of fossil fuels. And the decision will help us maintain our strong position in relation to building and operating offshore wind farms” , says Lykke Friis.

DONG Energy will be given a concession, permission for further preliminary investigations, and permission to establish the wind farm. DONG Energy will then be able to finalize contracts and the detailed planning. The Danish TSO, Energinet.dk, is responsible for the financing and constructing the substation at sea and connecting the farm to the electrical grid on land.

Facts on wind energy
The vision of the government is to achieve a society independent of fossil fuels. As part of this vision the government is working towards the ambitious goal of achieving a share of renewable energy of 30% of gross consumption by 2020.

Denmark has 11 operating wind farms with a cumulative capacity of 661 MW. Horns Rev II in the North Sea is the world’s largest offshore wind farm in operation with a capacity of 209 MW. Rødsand II is expected to be in full operation before the end of 2010 and will have a capacity of 207 MW.

Before the establishment of Horns Rev II, almost one fifth of the Danish electricity production was based on wind power. With the three new large scale offshore wind farms this percentage will increase by app. 8 percent. The production from Anholt offshore wind farm alone will correspond to app. 4 % of Danish consumption.

Anholt Offshore Wind Farm, (Danish only)

Hanne Windemuller
Kontorchef
Center for Global Rådgivning og Forhandling
Tlf.: 3392 6879
hw@ens.dk