News
Denmark's largest offshore wind farm gets the green light
Energy company RWE, the developer of the upcoming Thor Offshore Wind Farm, has received final approval for its establishment from the Danish Energy Agency. This marks a decisive step toward the realisation of Denmark's largest wind farm to date. As RWE's environmental advisor, NIRAS has conducted the critical environmental impact assessment (EIA) for this monumental project.
December 20, 2024
With a capacity of 1 gigawatt (GW), Thor’s 72 offshore wind turbines will generate enough renewable energy to power over one million homes. The wind farm, to be located 22–34 km off the coast of Thorsminde on Denmark's west coast, is expected to connect to the electricity grid no later than the end of 2027.
In the Danish Energy Agency’s press release about the permit (in Danish), its Director, Kristoffer Böttzauw, said: “Thor will be Denmark’s largest offshore wind farm to date and will make a significant contribution to achieving the goal of multiplying Denmark’s production of green electricity.”
“It is incredibly positive that Denmark can now look forward to an additional 1 GW of offshore wind within a few years. Notably, this comes with relatively limited environmental impacts."
Lisbeth Errboe Svendsen, Vice President of NIRAS’ Environment Sector
In-depth insight and close collaboration
"NIRAS has assisted with permitting processes both onshore and offshore, and we prepared the EIA for the offshore installations. This has provided us with detailed insight into the entire project and fostered a close and trust-based collaboration with RWE over the course of four years. We are immensely proud to have contributed to this chapter of Denmark’s energy history, and we hope to play a role in future developments of Danish offshore wind," said Rikke Holm, Senior Project Manager at NIRAS and lead on the Thor project.
Lisbeth Errboe Svendsen, Vice President of NIRAS’ Environment Sector, added: “It is incredibly positive that Denmark can now look forward to an additional 1 GW of offshore wind within a few years. Notably, this comes with relatively limited environmental impacts, so much so that the mandatory appeal period has concluded without a single complaint. This is green energy transition at its finest. We congratulate RWE on receiving the permit.”
Multidisciplinary expertise as a key strength
Since spring 2022, a multidisciplinary team of NIRAS experts has examined and documented how the environment will be affected by the Thor offshore wind farm. The assessment covers the impact of the construction, operation, and eventual decommissioning of the wind farm. It includes the turbines themselves, an offshore transformer station, and the network of undersea cables connecting the turbines to the mainland.
NIRAS’ work spans calculations of underwater and airborne noise, analyses of hydrodynamic conditions, sediment studies, and visualisations of the wind farm. The assessments involved specialists from diverse fields, including marine biodiversity (seabed flora and fauna, fish, marine mammals, and birds), hydrography, sedimentology, water quality, landscape impact, and archaeology.
“The most significant impact identified in the EIA is the visual impact, meaning the turbines’ visibility from land,” explained Rikke Holm. “In particular, during clear summer weather, the wind farm will be visible from the shore, but any potential disturbance from the view is mitigated by the fact that the farm is being established 22–34 kilometres out in the North Sea.”
Positive, open, and respectful collaboration
German company RWE won the Danish government’s tender for the Thor Offshore Wind Farm in 2021 and has been working toward obtaining the permit ever since. Reflecting on the collaboration with NIRAS, Bettina Skovgaard Jensen, Senior Consent Manager at RWE, said:
“We greatly value the excellent and positive collaboration with NIRAS. Together, we have considered numerous aspects and addressed many challenges on the way to completing the EIA for the Thor Offshore Wind Farm. We have found the collaboration with NIRAS to be open, solution-oriented, and characterised by mutual respect for each other’s roles.”
Facts about Thor Offshore Wind Farm
Thor is the first of four offshore wind farms that the Danish Parliament has decided will be built in the North Sea by 2030.
The wind farm will consist of 72 Siemens Gamesa offshore wind turbines, each with a capacity of 14 MW and a total height of 266 meters, along with a transformer platform and associated undersea cables.
The project area spans approximately 200 square kilometers. The turbines will be located 22–34 kilometres off the coast of Thorsminde by Nissum Fjord in western Jutland.
The wind farm is named Thor after Thorsminde, the nearest point of land.
Construction of Thor is scheduled to begin in spring 2025.
Denmark currently has 17 operational offshore wind farms with a combined capacity of approximately 2.7 GW.
"We have found the collaboration with NIRAS to be open, solution-oriented, and characterised by mutual respect for each other’s roles.”
Bettina Skovgaard Jensen, Senior Consent Manager, RWE
Reach out for more information:
