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Denmark is inviting bids for the government's next offshore concession, a 400 MW wind farm to be located between the east coast of Jutland and the island of Anholt, which lies in the Kattegat Sea between Denmark and Sweden. The project will double Denmark's current offshore capacity, although another 415 MW, two extensions to existing offshore facilities also sponsored by the government, will be completed before the Anholt project, which must be online by the end of 2012. Bidders have until April 2010 to submit their plans.

No specification for turbine size is given, although expectations are for 100-175 turbines, which indicates use of technology from either Siemens or Vestas, both companies with their main headquarters in Denmark. The Anholt facility will supply 4% of national electricity demand.

The Anholt location is the first of seven potential sites for 4.6 GW of offshore wind in Danish waters identified by an offshore advisory committee. The biggest sites, which both lie north of the existing Horns Rev project in the North Sea, now under expansion, are for 1 GW each. The capacity of Horns Rev will reach 370 MW by the end of this year once its extension is complete. The third North Sea site is for 800 MW in Jammerbugten off the far north-west of Denmark. The three remaining locations are for 200 MW at Great Middleground in the Kattegat, for 800 MW in the Danish sector of the three-part Kriegers Flak project in the Baltic Sea, and for 400 MW on Rønne Bank off the island of Bornholm, also in the Baltic.

With Germany and Sweden intent on advancing their parts of Kriegers Flak, Denmark has recently prioritised its share of the project to take advantage of economies of scale, particularly with regard to laying cables to shore. The project has been selected for a cash injection from EU economic recovery funds (page 42).