RWE has secured the concession to build the 1GW Thor offshore wind farm off the coast of Denmark.
Thor Wind Farm, owned by RWE, RWE Renewables, RWE Renewables Management UK, will now be invited by the Danish Danish Energy Agency (DEA) to a meeting to discuss the future process.
DEA said it expects to sign the concession agreement with Thor Wind Farm within four to six weeks.
RWE Renewables Offshore Wind chief executive Sven Utermohlen said: “We look forward to working with the Danish government and other stakeholders to advance our new offshore wind project.
“In the coming months, we will prepare the permit application and focus on soil testing.”
Thor is the first offshore wind tender has been completed in Denmark without aid and to include export cables and grid connection in the bids.
The Danish state should receive about Dkr2.8bn (€377m) from the wind farm for the first few years of operations, based on anticipated electricity prices, DEA said.
From about 2029, there will be no financial transactions between the state and RWE and the wind farm will be run on purely commercial terms for the rest of its anticipated 30-year life.
First power will be around 2026 with the project fully operational by 2027.
DEA director general Kristoffer Bottzauw said: “The tendering for Thor is yet another milestone in the history of Danish offshore wind power.
“For the first time ever, the state must be paid for authorisation to establish an offshore wind farm.
“The competitive price in the tender is even more impressive because, for the first time, the winner bidder will also have to pay for the landing cables and grid connection.
“This is very promising for future tendering procedures for offshore wind energy and for the green transition.”
The tender was decided by the drawing of lots today at the Danish Energy Agency (DEA) after more than one bidder offered the minimum price of 0.01 ore a kilowatt-hour and the largest wind farm capacity of 1GW.
Under the tender rules, the concession was to be awarded to the bidder that offered the lowest price, but if several bidders have the same low price, the winner with the largest wind farm capacity wins.
However, if both bid price and wind farm capacity are equal, the rules stated that the tender would be decided by drawing lots.
The lottery process was supervised by an independent auditor and the Danish states’ legal advisor, Kammeradvokaten, in order to ensure the process was in line with the procurement rules, DEA said.
Developers that had also been in the running for the concession were Orsted, Vattenfall, SSE Renewables and Thor OFW (owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure 4 Thor OFW and Andel Holding), Swan Wind (owned by Eneco Wind and European Energy) and a Total Renewables and Iberdrola Renovables joint venture.