Next Milestone: First Foundations For Danish RWE Offshore Wind Farm Thor Arrive in Eemshaven
Essen, Germany - The energy group RWE is making further progress with the construction of the Thor offshore wind project, Denmark's largest offshore wind farm to date.
The terminal operator, which belongs to the Hamburg-based company Buss Ports, will provide storage space, the equipment and personnel required in the port and will also handle the port logistics. The foundations will then be transported from the Dutch heavy-duty terminal in Eemshaven to the construction site at sea in spring 2025. The Thor wind farm is located in the Danish North Sea, around 22 kilometers off the west coast of Jutland.
The Danish port of Thorsminde will be the base for the subsequent operation and maintenance of the wind farm. Construction of a new RWE service building is due to begin there this year. In the long term, 50 to 60 jobs are to be created locally.
The wind turbines are to be installed from the Danish port of Esbjerg from 2026. The plan is to install 72 Siemens Gamesa SG 14-236 DD offshore wind turbines. Half of the turbines are to be equipped with towers made of low-carbon steel. With an installed capacity of more than 1,000 MW, the Thor offshore wind farm will generate enough electricity to cover the annual needs of more than one million Danish households. The wind farm should be fully operational by the end of 2027 at the latest.
“The construction of offshore wind farms requires large port capacity and special port infrastructure to handle the heavy components. Such capacities are becoming increasingly difficult to find. We are delighted to have secured the Buss Terminal once again. The facilities at Eemshaven port are ideal. We recently used the port to support the construction of our Kaskasi wind farm,” commented Thomas Michel, COO RWE Offshore Wind, on the project progress that has now been achieved.
RWE already operates 19 offshore wind farms, including Rødsand 2 off the Danish coast. In addition to Thor in Denmark, the company is currently building or planning three large offshore wind farms: Sofia in the UK (1,400 MW), the North Sea cluster (1,600 MW) off the German coast and Oranje Wind together with Total Energies in the Netherlands (795 MW). RWE has set itself the goal of tripling the Group's global offshore wind capacity from 3,300 MW (3.3 GW) today to 10,000 MW (10 GW) in 2030.
Source: IWR Online, 22 Oct 2024