Swedish energy company Vattenfall can proceed with plans to develop a 350 MW near shore project off Denmark’s west coast after a majority in the Danish Parliament (Folketing) announced on Friday, 18 November, that it will approve Danish Near Shore (DNS) wind farms.
On September 12, the Danish authorities announced that Vattenfall had won the tender to develop and build wind farms on two sites off the west coast of Jutland. The winning bid for the Vesterhav Syd and Vesterhav Nord wind farms was DKK 0.475 per kWh (around EUR 0.064 per kWh).
“We are really pleased that the Folketing has now confirmed that we can start building these near shore wind farms. This means that Vattenfall will further strengthen its position as a leading wind power producer in Denmark. At the same time it means more affordable renewable electricity for the Danish population and a quicker route to making Denmark independent of fossil fuels,” said Magnus Hall , CEO and President of Vattenfall.
Since the result of the tender was made public in September, a political debate has been going on in Denmark as to whether these near shore projects should be approved or not, Vattenfall said.
The argument that building wind farms so close to shore would disturb the view of the horizon too much had been a major reason to ban these projects.
The decision by the Danish Folketing means that this type of wind farm is now approved.
The next step for Vattenfall will be to initiate the procurement of the main components and services, including wind turbines, foundations, and cables, as well as agreements with installation ships, so that the construction phase can start as planned in 2019.
The first power will be supplied in 2020, the utility said.
Vattenfall was also recently awarded the tender to build the 600MW Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea, and the company will also build and operate the 400MW Horns Rev 3.
These two offshore wind farms, together with the near shore wind farms, form part of the political energy agreements concluded in 2012 aiming to give Denmark a green and resource-efficient economy which will be completely independent of fossil fuels by 2050.
These three offshore wind farms will together supply affordable and renewable energy for up to 1.35 million Danish households, which will make Vattenfall Denmark’s largest producer of wind energy in Danish waters, the company said.