Denmark inaugurates world's largest offshore wind farm- 209 MW horns Rev 2

Sept 17, 2009 - Matthew McDermott - Treehugger

The world has a new largest offshore wind farm: The 209 MW Horns Rev 2 project, located 30 kilometers off the west coast of Jutland in the North Sea, was inaugurated today by Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik. Constructed by DONG Energy, the project consists of 91 Siemens turbines and is expected to produce about 800 GWh of electricity per year -- enough for 200,000 households.

In addition to the being the current record-holder for offshore capacity, Horns Rev 2 is the first offshore wind farm to be manned year-round by up to 24 workers on an offshore maintenance platform, dubbed Poseidon.

DONG Energy chairman of the board Fritz Schur touted his company's offshore wind power prowess:

In many ways the establishment of Horns Rev 2 is a final test piece for DONG Energy. Half of the world's current offshore wind power capacity was constructed by us. This inauguration of the world's largest offshore wind farm underlines that DONG Energy is among the frontrunners in the field.

Though it will be able to bask in the number one spot for some while, there are a number of other larger offshore wind farms in planning and construction, including the now-slightly-downsized London Array -- of which DONG is a backer -- scheduled to come online in a few years.

More: DONG Energy - Horns Rev 2