Denmark to Commission Scandinavia's Largest Offshore Wind Farm

image courtesy of Vattenfall — Image courtesy of Vattenfall

Next month, Danish households will start receiving electricity from Scandinavia's largest offshore wind farm, a development that marks another milestone in the country’s clean energy ambitions.

This follows the announcement by Swedish utility company Vattenfall AB that the inauguration of the 604 MW Kriegers Flak wind farm is set for September 6. The project, which is Scandinavia’s and Denmark’s largest offshore wind project so far, was constructed in the Baltic Sea at a cost of $1.4 billion.

It forms part of the country’s ambitious commitment to invest in clean energy: Denmark as a target of achieving a 70 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and aims to become a CO2-neutral nation by 2050.

The inauguration of the park follows the installation of the last turbine in June and finalization of testing and certification processes.

“We are very proud of the contribution that Kriegers Flak brings to the wind energy production in Denmark and to the green transition. After a successful construction process, Kriegers Flak is now ready to provide green power to Danish homes and industry,” said Anna Borg, Vattenfall CEO.

In June, Vattenfall completed the installation of the last of a total 72 offshore wind turbines in the wind farm located some 8-20 nautical miles off the east coast of Denmark. With an annual production capacity of 604 MW, the park will provide annual electricity consumption for approximately 600,000 Danish households, effectively increasing the Danish wind production by approximately 16 percent.

The offshore wind farm, which covers an area of 38 square nautical miles, features 72 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines, each with a capacity of 8.4MW. Each turbine has a total height of 615 feet and weighs up to 800 tons. About 90 nm of underwater cables have been laid to connect the project to the grid.

Denmark had 1.7 GW installed offshore wind capacity by the end of 2019. It has recently approved a plan to build an artificial island in the North Sea that will be a hub to hundreds of offshore turbines with a capacity to generate 10 GW, enough energy for 10 million households. The first stage will support up to 3 GW, and it is expected to cost $34 billion. Its operations should begin by 2033.