Denmark - Country's largest offshore wind farm approved

Parliament approved the construction of Denmark's largest offshore wind turbine park on Tuesday. The wind farm will be placed in the Kattegat strait of the North Sea. The turbines will be capable of producing 400 megawatts of energy, which can power 400,000 homes for a year, according to the Climate and Energy Ministry.

There will be between 100 and 175 wind turbines placed in the northern Jutland waters, depending on their size. 'I'm very happy all parties supported the energy agreement and the location of the wind turbines. It's important that a broad majority support energy policies, because there's no doubt that this is an enormous task for Denmark,' said Connie Hedegaard, the climate minister.

Jakob Lau Holst, the acting director of the Danish Wind Industry Association (DWIA), said the new construction will help Denmark in its bid to reach the European Commission's goal of generating 30 percent of its energy from wind by 2020. 'At the same time it's also important we don't rest on our laurels. We need to continuously build at sea and on land over the coming years to reach the goal and to send an international message that we are serious about reducing our greenhouse gas emissions,' said Holst.

According to the latest figures from the Wind Industry Association, Denmark has 5267 turbines, of which nearly 70 percent are located on Jutland. In 2006, offshore wind farms produced 22 percent of Danish wind energy.

For more information, please contact Trevor Sievert at ts@windfair.net