The world’s first offshore wind farm is retiring​

‘DONG Energy has decided to retire “Vindeby”, the world’s first offshore wind farm, which 25 years ago marked the birth of the offshore wind industry. Today, offshore wind is a recognised and proven renewable energy technology, and the offshore wind turbines harvest the energy from the wind, transforming it into green power for millions of households. But it is actually only some 25 years ago that the world’s first offshore wind farm was constructed close to shore in the low waters off Vindeby near Lolland in the south east of Denmark.

Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm, consisting of 11 offshore wind turbines, was connected to the grid in 1991. After more than 25 years of service, DONG Energy – owner and operator of the wind farm – has now decided to decommission Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm. But even though the wind farm is now being decommissioned, and even though the Vindeby turbines are small compared to current standards, they have been of vital importance for the industry according to Leif Winther, responsible for DONG Energy’s Danish offshore wind farms:

“Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm is almost miniature-size in comparison with the giant projects which are now being realised in Northern Europe. But without the experience gained from the world’s first offshore wind farm, we wouldn’t be where we are today. It’s fair to say that Vindeby is the cradle of the offshore wind industry, and that this is where the industry was born,” says Leif Winther.

From pioneer work to global industry

It was pioneers from the former Elkraft power company who experimented with installing wind turbines in shallow waters. Since the birth of Vindeby, offshore wind farms have reached utility-scale, and a single one of the largest turbines available today produces more power than the entire Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm. “Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm has played a decisive role in scaling up the technology and reducing the costs to a level that makes offshore wind attractive to many countries facing replacement of end-of-life coal-fired power plants with new green energy sources,” says Leif Winther.

Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm has covered the annual power consumption of around 2,200 households. In comparison, DONG Energy’s future offshore wind farm off the east coast of England, Hornsea Project One, which when ready for commissioning in a few years will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, will be able to supply green energy to approximately one million households. Click here to read more