Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm

Wind Project Site

Title: Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm

Status:

Decommissioned

Project Manager:

Ørsted

Turbine Developer:

Siemens Gamesa

Foundation Manufacturer:

MT Højgaard

Website:

External Link

Construction Start:

December 1, 1988

Operation Start:

September 1, 1991

Decommission Date:

September 7, 2017

Info Last Updated:

April 25, 2025

Contact:

Info
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Details

Technology:

Fixed Offshore Wind

Project Scale:

Demonstration

Turbine Model:

B35/450

Hub Height:

37.5 m

Rotor Diameter:

37 m

Number of Turbines:

Capacity per Turbine:

0.45 MW

Installed Capacity:

5 MW

Support Structure:

Gravity Foundation

Inter-Array Cables:

10 kV

Export Cables:

AC, Buried Seafloor Cables

Export Cable Voltage:

10 kV

Number of Export Cables:

Cable Landfall:

Trenched

Physical Site:

Shallow Water (<60m), Marine, Hard-Bottom Habitat

Water Depth:

2.1-5.1 m

Distance from Shore:

1.5-3 km

Country:

Denmark

Description

Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm was the world’s first offshore wind farm, located off the coast of Lolland, Denmark. Vindeby used the largest commercial onshore turbines available at the time, the B35/450, developed by Bonus Energy. The farm consisted of 11, 450 kW turbines for a total installed capacity of 5 MW, which covered the annual consumption of 2,200 Danish households. The farm produced 12 GWh/year. The gravity foundations used at Vindeby were based on a lighthouse’s foundation. Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm was owned by Dong Energy, now Ørsted, and the Cables were owned by SEAS-NVE.

Further informational videos on the wind farm can be found on Vindeby's lifetime and decommissioning,

Location

Vindeby was located 1.5 to 3 km off the northwest coast of the Danish Island of Lolland in the Baltic Sea. The distance between the wind turbines in a row was 300 m and the distance between the rows was 300 m. The closet port was the port of Onsevig and cable landfall was at Blæsenborg Odde.

Licensing Information

1985-1989 Programme (EEC) of demonstration projects and industrial pilot projects (EEC) in the energy field

Project Timeline

September 7^th, 2017: Decommissioning completed
May – November 1993: Meteorological Study
September 1^st, 1991: Fully operational
July 11^th, 1991: First energy sent to the grid
July 4^th, 1991: Last wind turbine constructed
June 25^th, 1991: First turbine fully constructed
March 1991: Foundation construction began
June 1989: ELKRAFT Power Company (previously Dong Energy now Ørsted) launched effort to build an offshore wind farm

Key Environmental Issues

Vindeby was the first world’s offshore wind farm, and thus was subject to extensive environmental monitoring. Key offshore environmental issues in Denmark are extensively detailed in a report by Dong Energy (now Ørsted), Vattenfall, Danish Energy Agency, and Danish Nature Agency.

Metadata Documents

Environmental Assessment for Decommissioning of Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm (Ørsted 2016)
Underwater Noise From Three Types Of Offshore Wind Turbines: Estimation Of Impact Zones For Harbor Porpoises And Harbor Seals (Tougaard et al. 2009)
Danish Offshore Wind: Key Environmental Issues (Dong Energy et al. 2006)
Possible Effects of the Offshore Wind Farm at Vindeby on the Outcome of Fishing (Engell-Sørensen 2002)
Underwater Noise Measurements, Analysis, and Predictions (Degn 2000)
Meteorological aspects of offshore wind energy: Observations from the Vindeby wind farm (Barthelmie et al. 1996)
Vindeby Off-Shore Wind Farm - Construction and Operation (Olsen and Dyre 1993)

Phase	Stressor & Receptor	Design and Methods	Results	Publications	Data
Operations	Noise Marine Mammals	Hydrophone recording A portable standard digital audio tape (DAT) with appropriate hydrophones and amplifiers were used to record noise measurements at individual turbines, with other turbines stopped, and with all turbines stopped.	Complete Turbine noise was only detectable above background noise at frequencies below 315-500 Hz. Absolute noise levels were low, between 109 and 127 dB.	Tougaard et al. 2009	No data publicly available.
Operations	Noise Marine Mammals	Hydrophone recording Underwater noise was recorded at Vindeby (Denmark) and Windworld (Sweden) to investigate underwater noise caused by turbines.	Complete Noise levels at less than 400 Hz were higher with the turbine running, with a maximum at 20 Hz.	Degn 2000	No data publicly available.
Operations	Attraction Fish	Turbot-netting Three nets to catch turbot were set on June 5 and 6, 2021, both inside and outside the wind farm area.	Complete The nets caught a large amount of algae and a sparce catch of turbot, so further investigation was cancelled.	Engell-Sørensen 2002	No data publicly available.
Operations	EMF Fish	EMF Comparison Study A literary review of the effects of EMFs on fish was performed. The expected EMF at varying distances from the cable were calculated.	Complete The study found that although the electro-magnetic field strength near the cable may be strong enough to affect fish, greater than 1m from the cables the magnetic field approximates the geomagnetic field of the earth.	Engell-Sørensen 2002	No data publicly available.
Operations	Noise Fish	Noise Comparison Study In 2000 underwater noise from Vindeby was recorded from 15 meters downwind with a depth of 1.2 meters and frequencies from 10 Hz to 20 kHz while the turbine was operating and while stopped. A literature review was performed to look at the range of sound that effects fish can hear.	Complete Based on the results of the literature review, the noise levels at Vindeby offshore wind farm were expected to be unlikely to cause any damage of the sensory-hair-cells in the ears of fish in the area.	Engell-Sørensen 2002	No data publicly available.
Decommissioning	Displacement Fish	Field Video in Points Survey In the summer of 2016, 11 points (one at the base of each wind turbine) were monitored using UV photos and videos to observe species behaviour.	Complete Fish were expected to be temporarily displaced due to decommissioning but able to return to area upon completion of decommissioning. Some reef dwelling fish will be permanently displaced due to the removal of the foundations.	Ørsted 2016	No data publicly available.
Decommissioning	Habitat Change Birds	Review of the Dansk Ornitologisk Forening (DOF) database and Aarhus University Danish Centre for Environment and Energy (DCE) data The DOF database data was reviewed from 2010-2016. Ornithologists have entered their observations into the database. Aarhus University DCE censuses were looked at from 2007 and 2013. Via a mid-winter aircraft count.	Complete It was estimated that the work with the removal of foundations and cables, which would lead to sediment spillage and long-term visual effects, would have a negative effect on the area's waterfowl.	Ørsted 2016	No data publicly available.
Decommissioning	Habitat Change Fish	Field Video Transects Survey In June 2016 five long video transects of a total of approx. 12 km with video monitoring, were the Fotopedo (A camera system created by Orbicon) is pulled slowly after our survey boat. Fotopedo is used to monitor underwater sight conditions.	Complete Fish and mussels would lose the reef habitat built on the wind farm foundations.	Ørsted 2016	No data publicly available.
Decommissioning	Habitat Change Marine Mammals	Breeding location assessment The breeding grounds for porpoises, grey seals, and harbour seals in Denmark were assessed based on proximity to Vindeby offshore wind farms.	Complete Important breeding grounds for all species was found to be 40km or more from the wind site. Thus marine mammal’s habitat was expected to observe minimal change due to decommissioning.	Ørsted 2016	No data publicly available.
Decommissioning	Habitat Change Physical Environment	Sediment sampling A mixed sample consisting of five subsamples was taken and analyzed in May 2016.	Complete Fractional composition of the sample by weight are presented.	Ørsted 2016	No data publicly available.
Decommissioning	Noise Birds	Review of the DOF database and Aarhus University DCE data The DOF database data was reviewed from 2010-2016. Ornithologists have entered there observations into the database. Aarhus University DCE censuses were looked at from 2007 and 2013. Via a mid-winter aircraft count.	Complete It was estimated that the work with the removal of foundations and cables, which would lead to an increase in noise, would have a negative effect on the area's waterfowl.	Ørsted 2016	No data publicly available.
Decommissioning	Noise Fish	Field Video in Points Survey In the summer of 2016 11 points (one at the base of each wind turbine) were monitored using UV photos and videos to observe species behaviour.	Complete Fish were expected to experience a temporary increase in noise during the decommissioning process.	Ørsted 2016	No data publicly available.
Decommissioning	Noise Marine Mammals	Literary review of porpoise’s noise sensitivity Several studies were reviewed to determine the noise sensitive of porpoises. The predicted noise from decommissioning was compared to acceptable levels.	Complete The noise produced by decommissioning was found to be in a safe range for marine mammals that wouldn’t cause hearing damage,	Ørsted 2016	No data publicly available.