Denmark might be getting ten new coastal offshore wind farms. Beyond the seven applications sent to the Danish Energy Agency, developer Wind Estate has submitted three additional applications for preliminary assessment licenses for projects in inner Danish waters. These projects will entail a combined capacity of around 1.8 GW, the Danish Energy Agency informs in a statement Friday.

This announcement comes on the same day that the agency revealed a new process for so-called open-door projects, which add a series of legal and procedural complications for securing necessary permissions for installing coastal offshore wind farms. Read more here.

Wind Estate's projects are, of course, not so far along in the process. The three potential facilities are in the first of ten steps involved in securing permissions.

Coastal 12MW machines

The largest of these three projects is called Kadet Banke and entails 72 wind turbines with a combined capacity of 504-864 MW and aims to deploy 7-12MW wind turbines. Similarly rated units are intended for Wind Estate's other two projects, comprised of 60-62 machines with effects totaling between 434 and 720 MW.

The company also wants to conduct a repowering job at the Samsø offshore wind farm. One year back, Wind Estate purchased nine of the ten wind turbines at the facility, which is planned to be renamed Paludan Flak, while the current Bonus turbines with per-unit ratings of 2.3 MW will be replaced with seven larger units. Furthermore, the project south of Samsø will be expanded with 12-15 more turbines, which would come to 154-228 MW.

The initiated hearing phase will continue until Dec. 11, at which time the Danish Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities will make a decision on whether Wind Estate will get permission to conduct preliminary assessments 

English Edit: Daniel Frank Christensen

Prospects for coastal wind projects obscured further