HOFOR (Greater Copenhagen Utility), and wpd AG, a German developer and operator of wind farms in Europe, America and Asia, have signed a strategic partnership agreement to develop offshore wind energy in Denmark.
“The agreement with wpd is a breakthrough in our efforts to contribute to the growth of wind energy in Denmark. This partnership means that we here at HOFOR will have access to the technological impetus and expertise we need to meet our offshore energy goals – to benefit electricity consumers and the transition to green energy sources. The partnership will significantly improve our competitive edge in the offshore sector and it will help Denmark to maintain its positions of strength in the wind energy sector,” says CEO Lars Therkildsen, HOFOR A/S.
Gernot Blanke, CEO, wpd, welcomes the agreement: “We have established a powerful and competitive Consortium in the Danish offshore market. This agreement with a regionally funded, publicly-owned utility company will create an excellent platform for realising our goal to expand the development of offshore wind energy.”
HOFOR and wpd will initially develop a tender bid for the offshore wind farms tendered by Energistyrelsen (the Danish Energy Agency) in 2015. The tender comprises six near shore wind farms totalling 350 MW installed capacity.
HOFOR, a relatively new player in the wind energy industry, has an enterprising goal; to build 100+ onshore and offshore wind turbines by 2025. With a total capacity of 360 MW, the wind turbines will produce a significant part of the total electricity consumption in the City of Copenhagen and help to make Copenhagen carbon-neutral by 2025. Expanding the capacity by more than a hundred wind turbines is crucial. Without these wind turbines, Copenhagen will not become the world’s first carbon neutral capital city by 2025. HOFOR’s expansion will also impinge on the Danish national target which is for half of Denmark’s electricity consumption to come from wind turbines in 2020.
“Our own and Denmark’s ambitious wind energy targets can only be achieved by huge new expansion in offshore wind farms. We just don’t have the space onshore. To date, HOFOR has only built onshore wind turbines. With the new agreement with wpd, Germany’s leading wind developer, in place, we have a uniquely strong platform on which to build solid and competitive projects. These will be beneficial for electricity customers and Denmark’s strong position in wind energy technology,” says Lars Therkildsen.
Facts:
About the agreement
. Danish Offshore Wind Tender Consortium (“The Consortium”)
. Partners:
wpd offshore Denmark A/S and wpd offshore GmbH , subsidiaries of the wpd AG (“wpd”)
HOFOR Vind A/S (“HOFOR”)
. Purpose:
To participate in upcoming tenders on offshore wind farms in Denmark.
. Goal
To win concession for one or more Danish near shore wind farms up for tender in 2015.
About HOFOR
HOFOR, Hovedstadsområdets Forsyningsselskab, is responsible for water supply, and waste water and rainwater disposal in eight Danish municipalities: Albertslund, Brøndby, Dragør, Herlev, Hvidovre, Copenhagen, Rødovre and Vallensbæk.
In addition to water, we provide the City of Copenhagen with district heating, town gas and district cooling. We are also actively involved in several wind farm projects in and outside Copenhagen. We also own Amagerværket, which is a combined heat and power plant (CHP). Our first wind farm project was developed in 2010. To date we have erected a total of 14 onshore wind turbines, three of which are on the island of Amager, just three kilometres from Copenhagen city centre. Our vision is to create sustainable cities. We are helping to protect Copenhagen from the effects of extreme weather conditions and make the Danish capital city CO2-neutral by 2025. To these ends we are building 360 MW wind turbine capacity and a new biomass-based power plant on Amager.
About wpd AG
wpd AG is a developer and operator of on- and offshore wind farms and operates worldwide in 17 countries; the head office is located in Bremen. The company has already developed wind energy projects with around 1,700 turbines totalling an output of 3,000 megawatts and has further plans with a total 6,700 megawatts onshore. With a pipeline of 6,400 megawatts wpd AG is one of Europe’s leading developers of offshore wind farms.
www.wpd.de
