Thor EIS public hearing kicks off

The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have launched a 5-week public hearing on the environmental assessments related to Thor offshore wind farm.

The public hearing will also cover the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the land-based part of the project, which is to be built by Energinet, the Danish TSO.

The public hearing, which is an early public consultation in the scoping phase, will run from 24 April to 29 May 2020.

As part of the hearing, approximately 5,600 local landowners and relevant organizations will receive a letter concerning the hearing.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the offshore-based part of the project will take place in the period from 2022 to 2024, after the winner of the tender for the development of the Thor offshore wind farm is appointed.

The DEA is the responsible authority for the SEA of the plan, while the EPA is the responsible authority for the EIA of the land-based project.

The Thor offshore wind farm will be located in the North Sea west of Thorsminde by Nissum Fjord at a distance of minimum 20 kilometres from the shore and with a capacity of between 800 MW and 1,000 MW.

As part of the Energy Agreement signed in 2018, the Danish government decided to establish three new large-scale offshore wind farms before 2030, which will expand the supply of energy from offshore wind by at least 2,400MW. The first of the three wind farms to be tendered is Thor.

DEA plans to launch the tendering process for the development of the project in the third quarter of 2020.

The deadline for final bids and the appointment of the concession winner is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2021.