Thor will be Denmark’s largest offshore windfarm to date, with a capacity of 800-1,000 MW when fully constructed and connected to the grid by 2027 at the latest
Publication of the contract notice and the tender material kick-starts the tender process for the project. The process initially includes a pre-qualification phase in which the agency will identify the companies with sufficient financial and technical capacity to participate in the tender. This will be followed by a negotiation phase with pre-qualified bidders that, potentially, may lead to adjustments in the tender in order to reduce the bid price.
The tender model for Thor will follow the same process as previous Danish offshore wind tenders, with the exception that it will also include the grid connection.
The tender published by the agency includes the conditions, a pre-qualification document, draft concession agreement and all of the necessary licences. Together with the ongoing preliminary studies of the area in which the windfarm is to be built, the aim is to make it easier for tenderers to provide a cost-effective bid for development of the offshore windfarm.
The grid connection element of the tender will include an offshore substation, landing cables and a high-voltage onshore substation. It is flexible as to the capacity of the windfarm, to enable developers to optimise the export cables and windfarm capacity and make the overall solution as cost-effective as possible.
The deadline for applications for prequalification is 1 December 2020. In the period from 1 October to 16 November 2020 potential bidders will be able to submit questions in writing to the agency about the tender. The final tender deadline is expected to be 8 November 2021.
Thor is the first of the three offshore windfarms included in the Danish Energy Agreement of 2018. It will be built in the North Sea at least 20 km from the coast.
The grid connection window opens on 1 January 2025 and Thor must be fully connected to the grid by the end of 2027 at the latest.
As highlighted previously by OWJ, the contract to develop Thor will be awarded using a contract for difference (CfD) of the type used successfully in the UK and elsewhere.
The CfD or, in Danish ‘difference contract,’ was selected by the parties behind the country’s energy agreement. A similar model has been used in Denmark before, but the model for Thor more closely approaches that used in the UK.
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