Swedish state-owned energy company Vattenfall is about to start the construction of the 400MW Horns Rev 3 offshore wind farm off the west coast of Denmark, which once commissioned in 2018 will be the largest offshore wind farm in Danish waters.
The total investment into the project will be just over EUR 1 billion, Vattenfall said. The wind farm will comprise V164-8.0MW turbines, the first of which are expected to be installed and connected in 2017.
The company won the bid for the concession to build Horns Rev 3 in February 2015.
“Horns Rev 3 is an important part of Vattenfall´s ambitions in the field of wind and particularly on our focus on offshore wind farms. Horns Rev 3 also gives a clear signal to the world around us that Vattenfall´s strategy is to make new investments in renewable electricity generation and to grow in wind. Vattenfall supports the transition to a totally renewable energy system and takes up the challenge, in spite of current low electricity prices and excess capacity,” said President and CEO of Vattenfall, Magnus Hall.
The company seeks to reduce the construction costs of offshore wind power, thereby also cutting the generation cost of each kWh (kilowatt-hour) produced. This will allow Horns Rev 3 to be built and commissioned in just under three years, Vattenfall said.
“Horns Rev 3 is a real milestone for us, it clearly shows that competition is a suitable way to reduce costs for offshore wind significantly. Horns Rev 3 is the cheapest recent offshore project and the experience we have gained from our other wind projects had a very positive impact. This project underlines our ambition to lead the industry in a highly competitive market environment,” said Gunnar Groebler, Head of Vattenfall Wind.
Offshore, Vattenfall currently owns 60% of Horns Rev 1, and operates or is building two offshore wind farms in the German North Sea in partnership with Stadtwerke München: Dan Tysk, inaugurated in May 2014, and Sandbank, to be inaugurated in 2017.
In addition, Vattenfall will inaugurate the extension to the Kentish Flats wind farm in the UK on 6 June this year. In total, Vattenfall owns around 2,200 MW of wind power, 1,300 MW of which is offshore in more than 1,000 wind turbines.