Next project for Denmark at 400 MW

Denmark's largest offshore wind power station is to be built off the east coast of Jutland, in the middle of the Kattegat Sea between Denmark and Sweden. At 400 MW it will equal the combined capacity of the 200 MW extensions already being built at the 160 MW Horns Rev farm in the North Sea and at the 165 MW Rødsand wind farm in the Baltic Sea off the town of Nysted. Horns Rev II will be operational next year and Rødsand II in 2010. The Kattegat farm is scheduled to come online in 2012. The chosen location, between Jutland and the island of Anholt, will place the wind turbines about 20 kilometres off the mainland. Transmission capacity on shore is already available and was a deciding factor in selecting the site. The decision to proceed with a new round of government-sponsored offshore wind farm construction was taken in February in a cross-party parliamentary agreement. The location of the project or projects, however, was not announced until late last month. The government will now invite companies to bid for its construction. The wind farm will produce enough electricity to cover the needs of 400,000 households. The Danish Society for the Conservation of Nature and the local fishing industry have both welcomed the wind farm, as have other environmental groups. Studies of the ecological impact of Denmark's existing offshore wind farms have reported positively on affected flora and fauna.