World’s first offshore windfarm to retire

After 25 years “the cradle” of the offshore wind industry is to be decommissioned

Dong Energy is to decommission the world’s first offshore windfarm, which has been generating power for more than a quarter of a century.

The Vindeby Offshore Windfarm was first connected to the grid in 1991 in waters off the south-east coast of Denmark.

Decommissioning work will start later this month and the blades, nacelles and towers will be taken down individually by a mobile crane.

All the components will then be sent onshore and reused as much as possible as spare parts for other wind turbine projects.

The company estimates that during its lifetime, the windfarm has produced 243GWh of power, which is a fraction of many of the world’s largest offshore windfarms produce in a single year.

Dong Energy’s Leif Winther, who is responsible for the firm’s Danish offshore windfarms, said Vindeby is “almost minature-size” in comparison to many of the projects currently being built in Europe.

“But without the experience gained from the world’s first offshore windfarm, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” claimed Winther.

“It’s fair to say that VIndeby is the cradle of the offshore wind industry, and that is where the industry was born.

“Vindeby Offshore Windfarm 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,” added Winther.