One milestone follows another at the 1.1‑gigawatt Thor offshore wind farm off Denmark’s west coast near Jutland: Yesterday, shortly after the installation of the first turbine, Thor delivered electricity into the Danish grid for the first time. The grid is operated by Energinet. Danske Commodities A/S delivers route-to-market services for Thor’s electricity on behalf of RWE.
Sven Utermöhlen, Chief Executive Officer RWE Offshore Wind: “Denmark’s largest offshore wind farm is now generating electricity and feeding power into the national grid for the first time. Reaching this milestone so soon after installing the first turbine demonstrates the exceptional performance of our project teams and partners, and how effectively they collaborate. Thor is progressing exactly as planned. A big thank you to everyone involved. Our focus now turns to the next steps, which will see all 72 turbines brought into commercial operation by 2027.”
Kim Willerslev Jakobsen, Chief Executive Officer at Systemansvar in Energinet: “Denmark’s largest offshore wind farm has reached an important milestone in the green transition. Green electricity is now flowing in from the North Sea and out through the sockets of up to one million households once Thor wind farm is fully commissioned. I am, of course, proud that Energinet has helped build the infrastructure that will distribute this green electricity to Danish consumers and to customers abroad. A big congratulations to RWE on this impressive milestone and thank you for an excellent collaboration.”
Thor offshore wind farm is a joint project between RWE (51%) and Norges Bank Investment Management (49%). RWE is in charge of construction and operations throughout the lifecycle of Thor.
Sustainable features: CO2-reduced steel towers and recyclable blades
Thor will be the first offshore wind farm in the world to use 36 steel turbine towers that have been manufactured with a lower carbon footprint by Siemens Gamesa. In addition, some of the turbines will be equipped with recyclable rotor blades. This represents a pioneering step toward full lifecycle sustainability for an offshore wind farm and aligns with RWE’s sustainability ambitions.
Thor progressing according to plan
The construction works are proceeding well. Last year, the offshore substation delivered by HSM Offshore Energy and all foundations for the 72 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines (up to 15 MW each) were successfully installed. In addition, the onshore substation was completed by Siemens Energy. Recently the project obtained the 30-year electricity production licence from the Danish Energy Agency, one of the preconditions to start the commissioning works.
When fully operational in 2027, Thor offshore wind farm will be capable of producing enough green electricity to supply the equivalent of more than one million Danish households. The wind farm’s operations and maintenance plan envisages creating 50 to 60 local jobs at a new RWE service building at the Port of Thorsminde, which will be officially opened in March.
Leading global player in offshore wind
RWE already has 19 offshore wind farms in operation globally, including Rødsand 2, located south of the Danish island of Lolland. In addition to Thor in Denmark, the company is currently building three major offshore wind farms: the Sofia offshore wind farm (1.4 GW) in the UK, the Nordseecluster (1.6 GW, RWE share: 51%) off the German coast and OranjeWind (795 MW, RWE share: 50%) in the Netherlands.
For more information about RWE’s Thor offshore project, please visit thor.rwe.com.
Images for media use are available at the RWE Media Centre (Credit: RWE / Photographer: Niklas Marc Heinecke).
