Vattenfall wins Horns Rev 3

DENMARK: Swedish state utility Vattenfall has won the rights to develop the 400MW Horns Rev 3 project in the North Sea.

by David Weston 27 February 2015

Vattenfall owns 60% of the Horns Rev 1 project

Vattenfall placed a winning bid of €0.1031/kWh (€103.1/MWh) to secure the development contract from the Danish government. The decision is still pending approval from the Danish parliament and the European Union.

The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) said the amount was far below that of Dong Energy's Anholt project, which had an agreed price of €0.1407/kWh (€0.1515/kWh in 2015 prices).

The DEA said Horns Rev 3's price makes it 32% cheaper than Anholt and currently the cheapest offshore project in Europe. Anholt was commissioned in 2013. The first turbines at Horns Rev 3 are expected to be connected in 2017.

Vattenfall outbid Dong, Statoil and E.On in the bidding process.

Yesterday it was announced that Vattenfall had sold its share in the UK's 714MW East Anglia One project to its development partner ScottishPower Renewables. East Anglia One was also handed a UK government subsidy yesterday, which guarantees the cost of electricity at €164/MWh.

Vattenfall already owns a 60% stake in the 160MW Horns Rev 1, in partnership with Dong Energy. It uses 80 Vestas V80-2MW turbines.