DKTender for the Thor Offshore Wind Farm
Also known as: Thor Offshore Wind Farm tender, Thor Offshore Wind Farm, Thor tender, Thor offshore wind tender, Thor offshore wind auction, Thor OWF tender, Danish Thor Offshore Wind Farm tender, Denmark Thor tender, Thor Offshore Wind Farm auction, Thor OWF
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Combined Danish offshore wind tender under the Danish Energy Agreement 2018: no separate upstream leasing round, one winner, a two-phase sealed negotiated process, a threshold-gated branched price criterion, and a prize combining site rights, model-licence framework, grid-build responsibility package, and a 20-year two-way CfD.
6 → 6 → 1
Sealed · 2 rounds
concession agreement + exclusive site rights + framework of model licences and authorisations + 20-year two-way CfD price premium + grid-build responsibility package
1.0 GW
Energinet must have the Point of Connection ready by 2025-01-01; supported operation starts no later than 2027-12-31; at least 95% of licensed capacity must be connected by 2027-12-31.
DKK 0.1/MWh
20 years
None
No price premium is paid for production in hours when the DK1 spot price is non-positive (≤0).
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If DEA appoints Energinet to take over the relevant onshore grid assets, then after construction the TSO must compensate the concessionaire for losses caused by curtailment or other reductions in electricity production in accordance with Section 11.
Milestone-specific regime rather than a single forfeiture rule: failure to commence construction before 2026-07-01 triggers the defective-performance penalty payable on demand; failure to meet the 95%-connected threshold by 2027-12-31 triggers DKK 280 million per six-month-block completion fines under §3.8-§3.10.
Concession agreement for the design, construction, operation and decommissioning of the Thor Offshore Wind Farm and its internal collection grid.
Exclusive rights over the SEA-narrowed 286 km² Thor site in Danish waters for offshore wind development and exploitation of the wind resource.
Framework of model licences in Annex 3.1-3.4: preliminary-investigation licence -> licence for construction -> operation-phase licence/authorisation package comprising Annex 3.3 licence to exploit energy and Annex 3.4 authorisation to produce electricity.
20-year two-way CfD-style price premium for electricity produced by Thor, settled against a DK1 reference price with bidirectional payment caps.
Developer responsibility for the offshore wind farm's internal collection grid and the connection up to the Point of Connection, with Energinet responsible from the Point of Connection to the 400-kV grid at Idomlund.
→ No specific standalone sanction stated in point 2.1; forms part of the post-award licensing sequence.
→ No specific standalone sanction stated in point 2.4.
→ Failure triggers the defective-performance penalty payable on demand; lapse or termination of the concession agreement requires the separate triggers listed in Section 7.
→ From 2028-01-01, a DKK 280 million completion fine applies for the first six months; an additional DKK 280 million applies every sixth month from 2028-07-01 until the deemed-connected threshold is met.
→ Guarantee must be approved by DEA; no further specific sanction stated in point 6.3.
→ No specific standalone sanction stated in point 6.3.
TCW: Energinet must have the Point of Connection ready by 2025-01-01; supported operation starts no later than 2027-12-31; at least 95% of licensed capacity must be connected by 2027-12-31.
Late delivery: Milestone-specific regime rather than a single forfeiture rule: failure to commence construction before 2026-07-01 triggers the defective-performance penalty payable on demand; failure to meet the 95%-connected threshold by 2027-12-31 triggers DKK 280 million per six-month-block completion fines under §3.8-§3.10.
Reimbursement of Energinet's preliminary-investigation costs, including onshore EIA work, geotechnical and geophysical surveys, environmental studies, radar-mitigation analysis and MetOcean data.
DKK 151,000,000 DKK
Trigger: Payable after DEA has issued the construction licence; invoiced by Energinet after expiry of the appeal deadline or after final appeal decision.
Indexation: none — Stated as DKK 151 million excluding VAT at current prices, plus interest accrued from 2021-06-01 until payment at the Nationalbank public-company lending rate.
Payment of the actual costs of establishing Energinet's part of the onshore installation, up to the contractual cap stated in point 8.6.
DKK 714,000,000 DKK
Trigger: On the date agreed between Energinet and the concessionaire under annex 3.7.
Indexation: none — Stated as up to DKK 714 million excluding VAT at current prices.
Conditional reimbursement of derived and consequential costs if the concessionaire is responsible for delay or cost increase in Energinet's grid-connection task beyond the capped amount in point 8.6.
Trigger: Triggered if concessionaire-caused delay or cost increase occurs under point 8.7.
Anchor: until condition met
Stage trigger: Branch A applies if the lowest-priced bid's total expected subsidy cost over the 20-year period is below the DKK 3.7 billion (2018 prices) budget evaluation threshold; Branch B applies if no bid is within that threshold.
Applies if the lowest-priced bid's total expected subsidy cost over 20 years is below DKK 3.7 billion (2018 prices); award is then automatic without further political approval.
Metric: Lowest bid price per kWh
- highest capacity — If two or more bids have the same lowest bid price in the operative branch, the bid with the highest capacity is preferred.
- physical lottery — If bids remain tied on price and capacity, the winner is chosen by witnessed physical lottery.
Applies if no bid results in total expected subsidy cost within the DKK 3.7 billion (2018 prices) budget evaluation threshold.
Metric: Lowest total expected subsidy cost over the 20-year period
- highest capacity — If two or more bids have the same lowest total expected subsidy cost, the bid with the highest capacity is preferred.
- physical lottery — If bids remain tied on total expected subsidy cost and capacity, the winner is chosen by witnessed physical lottery.
Two-phase sealed negotiated procedure under sections 61-66 of the Danish Public Procurement Act: prequalified bidders submit an initial non-binding sealed tender, participate in confidential bilateral negotiations, then submit a final binding sealed tender.
Reserve: — Tender conditions express the admissibility floor as strictly above 0.00 øre/kWh. Because bids are limited to two decimals, the practical minimum bid is 0.01 øre/kWh, but 0.01 is not the stated legal floor.
Binary pass/fail prequalification stage. Six applicants were prequalified on 2021-01-14 and only prequalified applicants could proceed into the tender process.
Tenderers had to demonstrate sufficient financial and technical capacity, including documented offshore-wind and electricity-generation capability.
The round could proceed only once EU state-aid approval was obtained, and the winning bidder had to satisfy state-aid eligibility conditions including not being an undertaking in difficulty and not being subject to an outstanding recovery order for illegal and incompatible aid.
Single entities, consortia, and not-yet-established subsidiaries or SPVs contingent on winning were permitted applicant forms.
Method: quantitative formula
Unit: DKK øre/kWh
- highest capacity — If bids are tied on the operative primary metric, the bid with the highest capacity is preferred.
- physical lottery — If bids remain tied on the operative metric and on capacity, DEA resolves the tie by witnessed physical lottery. In 2021, several finalists tied at the legal floor and 1,000 MW, so the physical lottery was used.
Legal basis: Danish Energy Agreement of 29 June 2018; contracting authority under Danish Public Procurement Act sections 61-66.
Legal basis: Draft concession agreement provisions on Point of Connection readiness, onshore grid works, and compensation.
Legal basis: State-aid approval SA.57858 under Article 107(3)(c) TFEU / Article 108(3) notification procedure.
| Winner | Site/Lot | Category | Capacity | Price | Total Value | Delivery | Term | Mechanism | Signed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thor Wind Farm I/S | Thor Offshore Wind Farm | — | 1,000 MW | DKK 0.1/MWh | — | — | — | physical lottery | — | — |