The Danish city of Frederikshavn has become a global “focal point” for the partnership between European Energy and Vestas for testing and demonstration of new offshore wind technology.
The joint venture will develop and build three of Vestas’ newest V236-15.0MW offshore wind turbines at three of European Energy’s five test sites, which are currently being developed four kilometres off the coast in Frederikshavn.
For some years, European Energy has been working on the project.
Knud Erik Andersen, the company’s CEO, stated “We look forward to our cooperation with Vestas in turning the city of Frederikshavn into a focal point of future offshore wind turbine technology.”
“If we succeed in constructing these wind turbines off the coast of Frederikshavn, Denmark will position itself as the global centre not only of wind turbine development, but also regarding the testing of future offshore wind turbine technology.”
Vestas unveiled its next offshore wind turbine, the V236-15.0MW, in February of last year, and is presently manufacturing the first prototype, which will be built in the Danish onshore test site Osterild later this year.
Vestas sees the ability to build and test wind turbines in an offshore environment in Frederikshavn as a significant step forward in the deployment of cutting-edge wind turbine technology.
Christian Gjerlov, the head of offshore wind technologies at Vestas, said “The position will provide us with a unique opportunity to test the offshore wind turbines close to our factories and research facilities in Denmark prior to the serial production and export to the global market. ”
“If the project at Frederikshavn is successfully realised, it will play a key role in our future offshore wind business.”
Vestas intends to use offshore wind test turbines to demonstrate the technology’s viability in an offshore environment, as well as to provide early know-how with installation methods and technician training to ensure that offshore wind turbine installation and management can be done as safely and effectively as possible.
The city council of Frederikshavn approved the expansion of the offshore wind power project in 2018.
Since then, European Energy has been hard at work completing the needed environmental impact evaluations, which have now been approved by the Danish Energy Agency and will be released for public comment later this month.
The project is expected to be completed by 2024.
Andersen said “If we are successful in constructing the offshore wind turbines, we are planning to move forward with a Power-to-X-facility on the port of Frederikshavn, where we will turn the green power into green fuels that can help the shipping industry run on renewable energy.”
