Wind power
55°31′47″N 7°54′22″E / 55.52972°N 7.90611°E Template:Infobox Power Station
Horns Rev (also known as Horns Reef) is a shallow area in the eastern North Sea, about 15 km / 10 miles off the westernmost point of Denmark, Blåvands Huk.
At Horns Rev the Danish Energy company Elsam (now DONG Energy) built the first offshore wind farm in the North Sea. A total of 80 Vestas V80-2.0 MW units, capable of producing 160 MW, were installed in 2002 with the last turbine coming into operation on 11 December 2002. Since 2005, the wind farm is owned and operated by Vattenfall.
In May 2008, Dong Energy began construction on an additional wind farm in the area, Horns Rev 2. Ninety-one Siemens SWP 2.3-93 wind turbines will be installed, with a total generating capacity of some 209 MW. Construction was completed in September 2009.[1] The combined capacity of the two wind farms at Horns Rev is 369 MW, theoretically supplying approximately 350,000 Danish homes with electricity. However, the average output is more likely to be around 100 MW.
The main method of transport to the wind park is a specially adapted Eurocopter EC-135 helicopter. Hoisting the workers to and from a small platform on each turbine allows access to the park regardless of sea conditions which would otherwise prevent sailing in the area for a large part of the year.
Findings recently released from an eight-year study about offshore wind farms in Denmark show that the projects "operate in harmony with the surrounding environment". The 2006 report confirms that both the Horns Rev and Nysted offshore wind farms will double in size in the coming years.[2]
