Dong has acquired a 33.3% stake in two projects in the Hornsea Zone from the Smart Wind consortium, which includes Siemens and Mainstream Renewable energy. The projects — Heron and Njord — have a total capacity of 1GW.
When the winning bidders for Round 3 were announced in January 2010, many industry observers were surprised Dong was not on the list. It was part of a consortium with E.on and Fred Olsen Renewables which bid for "thousands of megawatts" but emerged empty handed.
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".
In March, Gedbjerd said he expected its UK offshore operations to outstrip its Danish parent in the next few years. At the time, the company said Dong still hoped to gain a foothold in Round 3.
Speaking about the Hornsea deal, Dong CEO Anders Eldrup said: "Participation in Round 3 is a natural step for Dong Energy taking into account our leading position within offshore wind and our existing presence and focus on the UK market.
"Hornsea is an attractive zone and the agreement with Smart Wind provides Dong Energy access to development projects, which fits well into our midterm project pipeline."
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