Denmark - DONG sees good demand for offshore wind

Denmark's DONG Energy said on Monday it had enrolled around 20 corporate and municipal customers for power from its new Horns Rev 2 wind park, which will be inaugurated this week off the west coast of Jutland.

The Horns Rev 2 wind park in the North Sea will be the world's biggest, with 91 turbines and a total capacity of 209 megawatts. "Alone in August and September, three new partners have signed up, so DONG Energy is now up to 20 altogether," Executive Vice President Lars Clausen said in a statement. "And there are more on the way."

Customers include industrial groups such as drugsmaker Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO), enzymes producer Novozymes (NZYMb.CO) and insulation maker Rockwool (ROCKb.CO) and four municipalities, DONG Energy said. The new wind park is expected to produce more than 800 gigawatt hours of electricity annually, which corresponds to the power consumed by about 200,000 Danish households.

Denmark is a pioneer in wind energy, getting about a fifth of its electricity production from wind turbines, which is the highest share of any country's energy mix. In the first half of 2009, state-owned DONG Energy generated 9.2 terawatt hours of electricity, with renewables accounting for 1.2 TWh.

The Horns Rev 2 wind farm will be overtaken by other large offshore wind projects. DONG Energy plans to build a 102-turbine 367-megawatt wind farm in the Irish Sea and it is a partner with E.ON EONG.DE and Masdar in the London Array wind project in the Thames Estuary, the first phase of which will have capacity of 630 MW.

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