EIB Grants EUR 1.2 Billion Loan to RWE for 1 GW Danish Offshore Wind Farm

Business & Finance

June 25, 2024, by Adnan Memija

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has committed to providing a EUR 1.2 billion loan to support RWE’s development of the 1 GW Thor offshore wind farm in Denmark.

According to EIB, the loan will help finance monopile foundations, turbines, inter-array cabling, an offshore converter station, export cables, a section of onshore cables, and an onshore substation.

The offshore wind farm will be Denmark’s largest, consisting of 72 Siemens Gamesa SG 14-236 DD wind turbines installed on monopile foundations. Of the 72 wind turbines at the Thor offshore wind farm, 40 will be equipped with recyclable rotor blades.

“At RWE, we are fully committed to working towards a net-zero energy system. This loan at attractive terms helps to further diversify our funding sources. With our Growing Green investment programme, we are investing heavily in renewables. And we are also focusing on circularity,” said Michael Müller, CFO of RWE.

“That is why we are installing recyclable rotor blades at Thor and are the first developer in the world to pilot new CO2-reduced steel towers that significantly reduce the carbon footprint of wind turbines.”

Thor is located on the west coast of Jutland, approximately 22 kilometres from Thorsminde in the municipality of Holstebro. Main offshore installation works are scheduled for 2025 and 2026.

Work on the onshore cable route and the production of the monopiles already started this year.

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The connection to the Danish national grid is built by the Danish transmission system operator (TSO) Energinet.

The offshore wind farm is planned to be fully operational no later than the end of 2027. Once completed, Thor will be capable of producing enough renewable energy to supply the equivalent of more than a million Danish households or one in three Danish homes, according to EIB.