Denmark launches tender for Thor

Denmark has launched the tender for the up-to 1GW Thor project – the first Danish offshore wind farm to be awarded under a new permitting process.

The Danish Energy Agency is due to close the tender in November 2021, following identifying potential bidders, negotiating with them to amend the process before selecting the winner.

Thor is to be brought online before 2027, with industry group Wind Denmark hopeful the project – due to be the country’s largest offshore wind farm – could be commissioned as early as 2025.

The operator of the 800MW Thor Thor (800MW) Offshoreoff Central Jutland, Denmark, Europe Click to see full details project will receive state support for 30 years through a similar mechanism to the UK’s contract for difference model.

The tender will also include the offshore grid connection – the offshore substation, landing cables and a high-voltage onshore substation – for the first time, the Danish Energy Agency stated.

Thor’s operator will be selected following a multi-stage process launched today (25 September).

The Danish Energy Agency will identify companies with sufficient financial and technical capacity to participate in the tender during a pre-qualification phase. This phase has a deadline of 1 December 2020, with companies due to be notified of the outcome by 14 January 2021.

It will then negotiate with pre-qualified bidders – a process that may lead to adjustments in parts of the tender with an aim to lower the price, the Danish Energy Agency stated.

Preliminary studies are currently being carried out for Thor – slated for a nearshore site off the west coast of the Central Jutland region – and two other offshore wind farms the Danish government aims to tender before 2023.

Wind Denmark had previously warned that extra environmental impact assessments could delay Thor’s development.

The Danish Energy Agency estimates that building the Thor project will require total investment of DKK 15.5 billion (€2 billion).