Rødsand II Wind Farm, Denmark

Planning permission has been granted for a 200MW extension to the 160MW Rødsand wind farm in the Baltic Sea. The original wind farm was opened in summer of 2004, and is south of Lolland. The Rødsand II extension is costing $625m and is backed by the Danish Energy Board. It is a result of an energy agreement in the Danish parliament to build two offshore farms with a total capacity of 400MW.

Rødsand II will supply 200,000 households with electricity, meeting 2% of the Danish power consumption. The wind farm covers an area of 35km².

MULTIPLE TENDERING ROUNDS

Rødsand is an excellent location for an offshore wind farm given its shallow waters, its nearness to the Danish coast, and its excellent wind resources. E.ON is part owner of the existing Rødsand I. Bladt Industries Denmark was major contractor. Deme transported and installed the transformer module (650t). It used a Rambiz heavy lifting pontoon, transport pontoon and auxiliary equipment. Energi E2 runs the wind farm.

Denmark is looking to increase the share of wind power in the electrical supply, which is crucial to its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol and EU renewable energy requirements. The country also wants to reduce dependence on fossil fuels long term.

The government (Venstre and the Conservative People's Party) and the Social Democrats, Socialist People's Party, Social Liberals and the Christian Democrats together agreed to build two wind farms in March 2004. Rødsand II was the second of two invitations to tender. The first tendered project was a 200MW offshore wind farm at Horns Rev, to come on line in 2009, which DONG Energy is building.

The wind farm's environmental impact is described in an EIA report that was the subject of a public hearing. Rødsand II was initially tendered, and a concession was awarded to a consortium of Energi E2, DONG Vind A/S and E.ON Vind Sverige AB.

Given the unfavourable financial conditions, DONG Energy and later E.ON Vind Sverige AB withdrew from the project. Like many offshore schemes, it was adversely affected by increasing capital costs of several plant items. The Danish Energy Board offered the concession for tender again in February of 2008. E.ON again offered the lowest transfer price, at 62.9 øre per kWh for 50,000 peak load hours. This corresponds to electricity production for about 14 years.

PROJECT RESURRECTED IN 2008

In April 2008, E.ON announced that the resurrected project had been given the green light. Most of the preparation work had already been done, and the start-up of the wind farm is planned for 2011. On completion, Rødsand will be the E.ON's largest offshore wind farm. Following the acquisition of the wind energy companies Airtricity in the US and E2 Renovables Ibéricas in Spain, E.ON is now the seventh-largest wind power company worldwide.

Rødsand II will be developed by E.ON Climate & Renewables. The business was created at the start of 2008 to steer its renewable energy projects worldwide.

The concession includes a permit to perform preliminary studies, construct a 200MW electric power plant, exploit wind energy from the electrical plant for 25 years, and take a licence to produce the electricity.

Permission was for 90 turbines with a total height under 150m on gravity foundations. The production of the 15MW from three test windmills will have first priority.

The supply circuit from land to a collecting point at the offshore windmills' internal network, including a transformer station, will be constructed and operated by Energinet.dk and SEAS-NVE. Energinet.dk will be responsible for extending the power grid out to the wind farm in cooperation with SEAS Transmission.