Denmark Moves Hesselø Offshore Wind Farm Site

The Danish political parties have signed an agreement on the new location for the Hesselø offshore wind farm, moving the project site to the south of the area that was originally planned to accommodate offshore wind turbines.

On 25 June, the country’s government, run by Social Democrats, and the Liberal Party, the Socialist People’s Party, the Radical Left, the Red-Green Alliance, the Conservative People’s Party, the Danish People’s Party, the Liberal Alliance, the Alternative, and the Christian Democrats signed the Climate Agreement on Green Power and Heat which relocates the Hesselø offshore wind farm based on the fine screening carried out by the Danish Energy Agency (DEA) and COWI.

The fine screening has shown that the area south of the original Hesselø site is a good alternative, as the seabed is considered to be better suited for the installation of the offshore wind farm, according to a press release from the DEA.

As reported earlier, the DEA paused the tendering procedure for the Hesselø project a year ago, after preliminary seabed surveys identified soft clay bottoms in large parts of the designated site, especially in the northern and western part of the area and in the upper 20-30 metres below the seabed.

In October 2021, the agency said it was searching for alternative areas for the project, in case the Hesselø site was deemed unsuitable, and initiated the fine screening process of alternative areas.

The process involved an initial assessment of suitability for the establishment of an offshore wind farm, including the effects on costs, grid connection work, environment, and planning conditions.

At the new location, Hesselø Offshore Wind Farm is expected to be able to start supplying power to Danish households from 2028 and to be fully completed in 2029, the DEA said.

Located in the Kattegat, north of Zealand, the offshore wind farm will have an installed capacity of between 800 MW and 1,200 MW.

A maximum of 1,000 MW is allowed to be delivered to the electricity grid via the connection point in Hovegård, located some 50 kilometres from the coast, but the developer will be able to use the 200 MW extra capacity as so-called “overplanting” to optimise the design of the offshore wind farm and cables.

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