Green light for Denmark’s biggest offshore wind farm

Copenhagen: The Danish Energy Agency this week approved construction for German utility RWE’s 1.1GW Thor offshore wind farm, clearing the way for work to start in the spring.

The plan is to install 72 Siemens turbines some 22km off the western shore of Jutland. RWE says they’ll supply power to a million households.

RWE Offshore Wind’s chief operating officer Thomas Michel said the project would be Denmark’s largest.

“But it is not just the size of the project that makes us ambitious,” he said. “We are also leading the way with investments in new sustainable technology with recyclable rotor blades and turbine towers made of greener steel.”

RWE said good progress had already been made with the laying of cables and the construction of a substation in the municipality of Lemvig.

At the beginning of next year, the developer will begin installing the foundations; the turbines themselves are to follow in 2026.

In April last year, RWE selected Chinese engineer Dajin Offshore and German monopile specialist EEW SPC to deliver 36 foundations each.

They’ve already arrived at Eemshaven in the Netherlands, which will be the onshore base for the project.

A consortium made up of Dutch maritime contractor Jan De Nul and Greece’s Hellenic Cables will supply and install the electrical system for the farm.