World's First Offshore Wind Farm being Decommissioned

Dong Energy has decided to decommission Vindeby, the world’s first offshore wind farm.
 
Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm is located close to shore off Vindeby near Lolland in the south east of Denmark. The wind farm, consisting of 11 offshore wind turbines, was connected to the grid in 1991. 

Vindeby has covered the annual power consumption of around 2,200 households. In comparison, DONG Energy's future offshore wind farm off the east coast of England, Hornsea Project One, which when ready for commissioning in a few years will be the world's largest offshore wind farm, will be able to supply green energy to approximately one million households.
 
The offshore wind turbines at Vindeby are located 1.5-3 kilometers offshore. Hornsea Project One is setting a record as the 174 offshore wind turbines will be located 120 kilometers offshore where the strong winds will ensure a high level of power production from each of the large wind turbines.

When the wind turbines at Vindeby were installed in 1991, they were lifted into place in one piece, but during decommissioning, the blades, nacelle and tower will be dismantled and taken down individually by a mobile crane on board a jack-up vessel. The concrete foundations will be broken down on site, mainly by hydraulic demolition shears, and collected afterwards.
 
All wind turbine components and foundations will be sent onshore to Nyborg Harbour where the components will be reused as much as possible as spare parts for other wind turbines. Some of the blades will become part of a research project at DTU Risø while others will be reused in an innovative noise barrier concept. One wind turbine will also become part of the exhibition at 'Energimuseet' (the Danish Museum of Energy). Components that are not immediately reusable will be transported to a certified recovery company.
 
During its entire lifetime, Vindeby produced 243GWh of power. This corresponds to what seven of the largest offshore wind turbines today can produce in a single year. The turbines for Vindeby were supplied by Bonus Energi, now Siemens Wind Power, and the foundations were produced by MT Højgaard.

Dong Energy has installed more than 1,000 offshore wind turbines in Denmark, Germany and the U.K. and is continuing to invest heavily in offshore wind farm projects in these countries as well as in the Netherlands, the United States and Taiwan.