Vattenfall has made the final investment decision for the Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm in Danish Baltic Sea waters, which is planned to be in full operation before the end of 2021.
“The investment in Kriegers Flak will significantly increase Vattenfall’s offshore capacity and is a cornerstone in our ambition to enable fossil-free living within one generation – as well as a major step in Denmark’s green transition. We are pleased to have reached this milestone,” Vattenfall’s CEO Magnus Hall said.
Vattenfall will invest a total of EUR 1.7 billion in Kriegers Flak and the Vesterhav Syd & Nord wind farms, with further action for the latter still being on hold due to an appeal process at the Danish Energy Board of Appeals.
The appeal process has been delayed but is expected to be finalised in 2018. The start of construction of the wind farms is pending final approval from the Danish authorities, which are in turn awaiting the finalisation of the appeal process, Vattenfall stated.
It is anticipated that the two nearshore wind farms, located in the Danish sector of the North Sea, be in full operation before the end of 2020.
“Vesterhav Syd & Nord are offshore wind farms with great potential, and we are confident that they are fully in line with the framework awarded to us by the Danish state. However we find it prudent to review the result of the appeals against Vesterhav Syd before taking further steps,” said Gunnar Groebler , Senior Vice President and Head of Business Area Wind, Vattenfall.
In November 2016, Vattenfall won the tender to build the Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm with the lowest ever bid of EUR 49.9 per MWh, 58% below the original cap of EUR 120 per MWh.
Currently, construction is underway at the Kriegers Flak Combined Grid Solution (CGS), a project that will interconnect the Danish and German grid via two offshore wind farms, the 605MW Kriegers Flak and Germany’s 288MW Baltic 2. The Combined Grid Solution project is funded with up to EUR 150 million from the European Energy Programme for Recovery.