Denmark Grants Life Extension for Two Pioneering Wind Farms
Two of the pioneering offshore wind farms, which at the time were also the largest in the world, have been granted life extensions by the Danish Energy Agency. This marks the third offshore wind farm that Demarn was licensed for continued operations and represents a critical step for the industry, changing the economics of the properties and the sustainability of the industry.
The Danish Energy Agency has notified the owners of Nysted Offshore Wind Farm south of Lolland and Middelgrunden Offshore Wind Farm in Øresund that they will have their permit for electricity production extended. The owners of the properties had applied for the extensions, and after a review that required an impartial analysis of the remaining service life to be obtained. In addition, the owners are required, as part of the extension, to carry out an extended service inspection annually.
"It is positive that offshore wind turbines that are over 20 years old will have the opportunity to continue producing green electricity for many years to come," said Stig Uffe Pedersen, Deputy Director General of the Danish Energy Agency. “It is also sustainable from a resource perspective that the plant can continue to operate safely and responsibly for a longer period of time.”
These wind farms are seen as pioneering in the industry. They are considered to have laid the foundation for the development of the modern industry with its much larger capacity.
The Middelgrunden Offshore Wind Farm, owned by HOFOR and the Middelgrundens Vindmøllelaug, has, according to the agency, become a permanent part of the view for Copenhageners. Launched in 2000, just nine years after the first offshore wind farm was started by Ørsted, Middlegrundens at the time was the largest offshore wind farm with a location just 3.5 km off the coast of Copenhagen.
The owners applied for and have received a 25-year extension of the permit. The park's 20 turbines, each just 2 MW, supply a total of 40 MW.
It was surpassed three years later by the Nysted Offshore Wind Farm. It is 10 km south of?Nysted and has a total of 72 wind turbines. Nysted’s turbines are each 2.3 MW with a total output of approximately 166 MW. Nysted offshore wind farm is owned by Ørsted, PensionDanmark, and Stadtwerke Lübeck, which had applied for a 10-year life extension.
The Danish Energy Agency marks these steps as another advancement in the maturation of the industry and expanding its contributions. Earlier in June, the Danish Energy Agency approved the first-ever extension granted to the Samsø Offshore Wind Farm. This extension is valid for ten years.
When the Samsø Offshore Wind Farm was established in 2002, the industry standard for the electricity production permit was limited to 25 years. The ten-turbine park has a total capacity of 23 MW and was granted an extension to operate until 2037.
At the beginning of June, the Agency said it had also received applications from Rønland offshore wind farm (17.2 MW) and Horns Rev 1 offshore wind farm for life extensions. Horns Rev 1 was expanded in three phases to become one of the largest offshore wind farms, and together, all these farms still play a key role in energy generation for Denmark. Today, the country has 2.7 GW of installed offshore wind power generation and an ambitious goal to reach 14 GW by 2030.