Vattenfall of Sweden has won a tender to build two offshore wind farms with a record-breaking bid of €60 ($67.33) per MWh, 20 per cent lower than the previous record set by Dong Energy in July.
The low bid is supported by the location of the wind farms, which are in close proximity to the shore in the Danish North Sea, leading to lower costs for foundations and transportation. Gunnar Groebler, Head of Vattenfall Wind, said: “With our bid, we have demonstrated that we are able to reduce the costs of offshore wind faster than had been expected.”
Vattenfall still needs to win final approval from the Danish Government, which is considering ending its support for near-shore wind farms. If approval is granted, Vattenfall will initiate final preparations for the wind farms, including procurement, services, optimisation, and final design, with the aim to start construction in 2019, with operation commencing in 2020.
The projects will have a total capacity of 350 MW.