Danish energy giant Dong Energy has started decommissioning Vindeby, the first offshore wind farm in the world, built on the Kattegat Sea.

Vindeby offshore wind farm, which was connected to the grid in 1991, consisted of 11 turbines each with a power generating capacity of 0.45MW and all the turbines put together produced 5MW.

Dong, the wind farm’s owner and operator, has decided to decommission it after 25 years of operation.

The company noted that even though the turbines’ capacity is small compared to today’s offshore turbines, the wind farm played a vital role in demonstration of offshore wind farms and their contribution towards generating clean energy.

As a comparison, Dong stated that the Vindeby wind farm produced enough energy that covered the annual consumption of around 2200 homes. By contrast, the Hornsea Project One, which will be completed in a few years, will produce enough energy to power around a million homes in the UK.

Dong Energy Danish offshore wind farms official Leif Winther: "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.”

"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.”

The company claims to have installed more than 1,000 offshore wind turbines in Denmark, Germany and the UK till date.


Image: Dong Energy decommissioning Vindeby offshore, the world’s first offshore wind farm. Photo: Courtesy of DONG Energy A/S.