Vattenfall has announced that start of construction work on the 406.7MW Horns Rev 3 wind farm off the coast of Danish North Sea.

The offshore wind project will include 49 turbines, each with a capacity of generating 8MW of clean energy. When complete, the wind farm will generate enough electricity to power 425,000 Danish homes.

Foundations for the wind turbines will consist of 40-50m monopile structures made from steel. Each of these structures will have a diameter of 6.5m and will be driven some 30m into the seabed.

The 8.3MW turbines for the project will be supplied by MHI Vestas.

The wind project site is located 34km off the west coast of the Danish Jutland Peninsula and it will cover an 88km2 area in the North Sea.

Vattenfall wind business head Gunnar Groebler said: "Horns Rev 3 is the first of three offshore farms that Vattenfall will construct in Denmark in the coming years.

“These wind farms will, in the highest degree, contribute to our strategy to have a fossil free energy production within one generation.”

Apart from Horns Rev 3, Vattenfall also plans to construct the Danish Kriegers Flak and Vesterhav South and North wind farms in the coming years.

In early October, first four monopiles were loaded onto the vessel Innovation and were driven onto the seabed. The next set of four monopiles will be loaded at Esbjerg Harbour.

Vattenfall also claims that it is taking precautions to reduce noise pollution during the construction by an air bubble installation on the seabed around the construction site. The air bubbles created by the installation are claimed to absorb sounds produced during the construction and protect marine mammals in the area.


Image: Vattenfall starts construction of Horns Rev 3 in Denmark: Photo: Courtesy of Vattenfall AB.