The Danish Energy Agency publishes tender conditions for Thor Offshore Wind Farm

The publication of the contract notice and the tender material kick-starts the tender process for Thor Offshore Wind Farm. The process initially includes a pre-qualification phase where the Danish Energy Agency identifies the companies with sufficient financial and technical capacity to participate in the tender. This is followed by a negotiation phase with the pre-qualified bidders that potentially may lead to adjustments in parts of the tender with an aim to lower the bid price.

The tender model for Thor follows the same process as previous Danish offshore wind tenders which have achieved historically low prices internationally. The published tender material contains the tender conditions as well as a pre-qualification document, a draft concession agreement and all necessary licenses, etc. Together with the ongoing preliminary studies of the area for the wind farm, the aim is to make it easier for the tenderer to provide a cost-effective bid for the offshore wind farm.

Offshore grid connection will be part of the tender

As something new, the tender includes the offshore grid connection, including the offshore substation, landing cables and a high-voltage onshore substation as well as flexible size of the park between 800-1000 MW. This will allow bidders to optimize the dimensions of export cables and wind farm capacity, thus making the overall solution as cost-effective as possible.

Deadline for application for prequalification is no later than 1 December 2020, and potential bidders will in the period from the 1 October to the 16 November 2020 be able to ask questions in written to the Danish Energy Agency about the tender. The final tender deadline for the tender is expected to be 8 November 2021. The schedule and process are described in more detail in the tender material.

The contract notice is published on the EU's electronic tender platform, Tender Electronic Daily (TED), and is also published on the Danish Energy Agency's website. Almost all of the material is presented in both English and Danish.

• Please find the contract notice and other material on the Danish Energy Agency's website.

Important milestones

• 25 September 2020 - Publication of tender notice and tender material
• 1 October- 16 November 16,2020 - Question and Answers period (prequalification)
• 1 December 2020 - Deadline for applying for pre-qualification
• 14 January, 2021 - Expected notification of pre-qualification result
• 8 November, 2021 - Deadline for final tender

About Thor

• Thor Offshore Wind Farm is the first of the three offshore wind farms agreed to be established in the Danish Energy Agreement from 2018
• Thor Offshore Wind Farm will be Denmark's largest and will be located in the North Sea at least 20 km from the coast.
• As something new, the park is tendered out with a flexibility of 800-1000 MW, just as the landing of cables is included in the tender.
• Grid connection window opens 1 January 2025, and Thor must be fully established and connected to the grid by the end of 2027 at the latest
• The authorization is given for 30 years with the possibility of extension for 5 years. The total investment costs for Thor are estimated at a total of DKK 15.5 billion.
• Thor can supply electricity to around 800,000 Danish households and will contribute to the job creation in Denmark.