DONG Energy has decided to build the offshore wind farm Walney II in the Irish
Sea. The move is a result of the British government's increase in funding
towards sustainable energy, which the British Chancellor of the Exchequer
Alistair Darling announced in his budget presentation today (WED).
Walney II is to be affiliated with DONG Energy's Walney I offshore wind farm,
for which planning has been completed. The British government's announcement,
to increase offshore support to 2 ROCs, has provided the foundation on which to
commence construction. The expected investment in Walney I and II is to total
9,7 billion DKK.
Combined, the wind farms will have a total capacity of 367 MW, and consist of
102 turbines. The planned completion date for Walney I is at the beginning of
2011. Walney II is expected to be completed in 2012. The total volume of power
produced will be the equivalent of the annual consumption of about 250,000
households.
“It's encouraging that the investment regime has now been created to allow us
to implement our strategy of considerably expanding DONG Energy's position
within sustainable energy. With the 2 ROCs, we can now begin the construction
of Walney I and II".” says Anders Eldrup, CEO of DONG Energy.
As for the London Array project, the partners will now conclude their review
processes before making an announcement on the final investment decision.
"With 2 ROCs, DONG Energy finds that a good foundation has been created to go
along with the London Array project as well. We will now discuss this with our
partners", says Anders Eldrup.
The turbines that are to be used in the Walney projects are part of a supply
contract concluded between DONG Energy and Siemens Wind Power in March 2009.
The agreement is the world's largest offshore wind turbine contract and
concerns the supply of up to 500 turbines for DONG Energy's planned offshore
wind farm projects; Walney will use up the first 102 of the turbines detailed
in the contract.
DONG Energy is already a market leader within offshore wind power, having built
around half of all offshore wind farms globally.
Walney I and II are to be placed in the Irish Sea, 15 km off the north-west
coast of England, and are the first stages in a joint project in which DONG
Energy has acquired the right to develop, construct and operate a wind farm of
up to 600 MW on the site.
The content of this announcement does not alter the previously announced
expectations for the financial result for 2009 or the announced expected level
of investments.
For further information, please contact:
Investor Relations
Morten Hultberg Buchgreitz
+45 9955 9750
Media Relations
Andreas Krog
+45 9955 2023
Facts:
The Renewable Obligation is the main support scheme for renewable electricity
projects in the UK. It places an obligation on UK suppliers of electricity to
source an increasing proportion of their electricity from renewable sources. A
Renewables Obligation Certificate (ROC) is a green certificate issued to an
accredited generator for eligible renewable electricity generated within the
United Kingdom and supplied to customers within the United Kingdom by a
licensed electricity supplier. After today's announcement, two ROCs will be
issued for each megawatt hour (MWh) of offshore wind power generated.
DONG Energy is one of the leading energy groups in Northern Europe. We are
headquartered in Denmark. Our business is based on procuring, producing,
distributing and trading in energy and related products in Northern Europe. We
have approximately 5,500 employees and generated more than DKK 60 billion
(approx. EUR 8.2 billion) in revenue in 2008.
DONG Energy is a market leader within offshore wind power, having built around
half of all offshore wind farms globally.
The UK is one of DONG Energy's primary markets concerning offshore wind. DONG
Energy is the sole owner of the 90MW Burbo Bank and owns 50% of the 90MW Barrow
project, both of which are in commercial operation in the East Irish Sea. The
construction of Gunfleet Sands I+II (total 172MW) was commenced in early 2008
in the Thames Estuary and are scheduled for commercial operation by the end of
2009. Furthermore, DONG Energy has a substantial pipeline of offshore wind
projects in the UK which are currently under planning and development. For more
information, please visit www.dongenergy.com
DONG Energy is one of the leading energy groups in Northern Europe. We are
headquartered in Denmark. Our business is based on procuring, producing,
distributing and trading in energy and related products in Northern Europe. We
have approximately 5,500 employees and generated more than DKK 60 billion
(approx. EUR 8.2 billion) in revenue in 2008. For further information, see
www.dongenergy.com.