DONG Energy successfully dismantled the world’s first offshore wind farm

After more than 25 years of operations, DONG Energy successfully dismantled the Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm- the first offshore wind farm in the world.

Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm was located in Lolland, in the south east of Denmark and constitutes the very first experimental offshore wind farm worldwide, as a demonstration project.

After 25 years of operation, the Vindeby wind turbines were worn out and DONG Energy decided that it was time to decommission the 11-turbine farm.

The dismantling process begun last March and lasted six months.

According to DONG’s press release, the blades, the nacelle and the tower were dismantled and taken down individually by a mobile crane.

The concrete foundations were broken down on site mainly by hydraulic demolition shears and a hydraulic hammer; the broken concrete was subsequently collected.

Leif Winther, Senior Lead Business Developer in DONG Energy said: "This is the first time we're dismantling an offshore wind farm, but luckily, we've been able to draw on our vast experience from constructing offshore wind farms and working offshore”.

He added: "In cooperation with the winning contractors, we developed the dismantling method and entered a long process with the authorities to obtain all necessary permits”.

Weather conditions and the water depth, – which was only two to five meters deep, were some of the challenges that the operation faced.

All wind turbine components were shipped to shore in Nybong Harbour and will be reused as much as possible as spare parts for other wind turbines.

The blades are destined to be reused in a niche noise barrier concept, after becoming part of a research project at Risø DTU National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy of the University of Roskilde.

Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm had an installed capacity of 4.95MW, and it comprised eleven 450kW turbines manufactured by Siemen’s subsidiary Bonus Energy, - now known as Siemens Wind Power.

In 1991, the project incarnated the innovative idea that Department of Electric Power Engineering of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology had been having since 1987.

The project is located two meters away from the shore, and had cost $10 million.

Mr Winther mentioned that one wind turbine for the project will become part of the exhibition at the Danish Museum of Energy in Bjerringbro in Jutland for posterity reasons, as a project that marked the beginning of today's global offshore wind power industry. 

You can watch the video from the dismatling process, uploaded by DONG Energy here!