Dong Energy VP Peter Gedgjerg said the company may have been unsuccessful when licences were awarded "because the UK Crown Estate had very ambitious plans, particularly in terms of the timeframe it set".
Stakes in Round 3 schemes could be acquired by freeing up cash from divestment of stakes in Dong’s existing offshore assets.
Dong says that it is looking to acquire stakes in offshore wind projects in the UK and France.
Gedbjerd said he expected its UK offshore operations to outstrip its Danish parent in the next few years, and was also looking at buying into the nascent French offshore market.
He added that Dong was developing an offshore operations and maintenance hub in Ramsgate, Kent, headed by Jason Halsey formerly of Vestas. The hub will initially serve the London Array project.
70 people are being recruited with a view to operating further across the North Sea and Northern Europe region.
Gedberg said the first London Array foundations were now in place with the first turbines due up in October, and was confident that doubts about phase two of the project raised because of birdlife issues were now being resolved.
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