Denmark speeds up Hesselø tender, adds overplanting option

Denmark is accelerating the tendering procedure for the Hesselø offshore wind farm to allow for the commissioning of the project one year earlier than initially planned.

Located in Kattegatt, Hesselø is the second of the three offshore wind farms proposed in the Energy Agreement 2018, the first being the Thor project.

Initially, Hesselø was scheduled for commissioning in 2028, but according to the recently approved Climate Action Plan, both Hesselø and Thor will be commissioned in 2027.

Denmark plans to start the tendering procedure for the development of the wind farm in 2021 and select the winner in 2022.

The Hesselø wind farm is located north of Sealand in Kattegat, in Hesselø Bay, at a distance of 30 kilometres from Sealand and around 20 kilometres from the Hesselø island.

The wind farm will have an installed capacity of between 800 MW and 1,200 MW and can thus potentially become the largest offshore wind farm in Denmark, depending on the capacity that the winner of the tender chooses to install.

Between 800 MW and 1,000 MW of the capacity will be used to produce and deliver electricity straight to the national grid.

The developers will also have an option to develop up to 200 MW of overplanting capacity.

This additional capacity can be used to ensure a more continuous flow of electricity to the grid, or it can be used in combination with battery storage or power-to-x projects.

The developers should include the battery storage and power-to-x projects into their bids if possible, the Danish Energy Agency said, adding that the preliminary studies should also take these options into account.

On Thursday, 2 July, Denmark’s transmission system operator Energinet received orders to initiate preliminary investigations regarding the Hesselø offshore wind farm and the establishment of a grid connection point on land.

Given a shorter development timeline, the feasibility studies will have to be completed sooner than initially planned which will be made possible by the wind farm’s location.

Due to Kattegatt being less exposed to harsh weather conditions compared to the North Sea, the survey vessels will be able to operate in winter months as well, the Danish Energy Agency said.

As early as August, the Danish Energy Agency will submit a draft exploration permit to Energinet in consultation with the relevant authorities. The feasibility study will give Energinet the right to start collecting relevant information about the feasibility study at sea, including cable corridors ashore, as well as specific information on environmental conditions.