The Danish Energy Agency has relaunched its push for large-scale offshore wind by inviting bids for three new wind farm areas in the North Sea and Kattegat that together could power around three million homes in Denmark and elsewhere in Europe.
Under tender documents released this week, the agency is offering licences for “North Sea Mid,” “Hesselø” in the Kattegat and “North Sea South,” with a combined minimum capacity of 2.8 gigawatts and the option for developers to add extra “overplanting” capacity beyond those baselines.
The projects are backed by a new two-sided, capability-based contract for difference (CfD) scheme that guarantees a fixed electricity price to winning developers. The design is intended to shield investors from periods of low power prices, a key concern that surfaced after an earlier 2024 tender round for six offshore areas failed to attract a single bid. The state has set a total payment cap of DKK 55.2 billion (approx. EUR 7.4 billion) under the support mechanism.
The new tenders come after a series of market dialogues and two political agreements concluded in 2025, which reshaped the support framework to better match investor expectations while preserving public budget limits.
Alongside financial support, Denmark has attached detailed sustainability and social conditions. Developers must meet recyclability requirements for turbine blades and comply with rules designed to prevent social dumping in labour conditions. The future Hesselø wind farm must also be built using a “nature-inclusive” design that takes marine ecosystems into account. To address security concerns, the energy agency reserves the right to demand documentation at any time that developers comply with current cybersecurity regulations.
Tender material is being published via the EU Supply platform. Bids for North Sea Mid and Hesselø must be submitted by spring 2026, while North Sea South will follow on a longer timeline with a deadline in autumn 2028.
Under the current schedule, North Sea Mid and Hesselø must be completed by the end of 2032, and North Sea South by the end of 2034, reinforcing Denmark’s longer-term strategy to expand offshore wind capacity while tightening environmental and social safeguards in the sector.
