Denmark's 1.1 GW Thor Offshore Wind Farm Delivers First Power to the Grid, Less Than Two Weeks After First Turbine Installation
RWE's Thor offshore wind farm off Denmark's west coast delivered its first electricity to the Danish grid on March 16, just twelve days after installing its first turbine. The 1.1 GW project, Denmark's largest, will power over one million households when fully operational in 2027.
Overview
Denmark’s largest offshore wind farm under construction, Thor, delivered electricity to the national grid for the first time on March 16, 2026. The milestone came just twelve days after the installation of the project’s first turbine on March 4, a timeline that the developer, German energy company RWE, described as demonstrating “exceptional performance” by its project teams.
The 1.1 gigawatt facility in the Danish North Sea is a joint venture between RWE, which holds a 51 percent stake and manages construction and operations, and Norges Bank Investment Management, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, which acquired the remaining 49 percent in 2025.
What We Know
Project scale and turbine specifications
Thor will comprise 72 Siemens Gamesa SG 14-236 DD wind turbines, each capable of generating up to 15 megawatts. The first of these turbines was installed by Fred. Olsen Windcarrier’s vessel Brave Tern, operating from the Port of Esbjerg, according to Offshore Wind. All 72 turbines are expected to be in place by the end of 2026, with the full wind farm entering commercial operation no later than the end of 2027.
When fully operational, Thor will produce enough electricity to supply the equivalent of more than one million Danish households, or roughly one in three homes in the country. Grid operator Energinet confirmed that power is now flowing from the North Sea into the Danish grid, with Danske Commodities providing route-to-market electricity services on behalf of RWE.
Sustainability firsts
Thor introduces two industry firsts in offshore wind construction. Thirty-six of the project’s 72 steel turbine towers were manufactured by Siemens Gamesa using a process that significantly reduces the carbon footprint of production, making Thor the first offshore wind farm in the world to deploy low-carbon steel towers at scale, as Windpower Monthly reported. Up to 40 of the turbines will also be equipped with recyclable rotor blades, addressing one of the industry’s persistent end-of-life waste challenges.
Construction timeline and infrastructure
The offshore substation and all 72 wind turbine foundations were installed during 2025, along with the completion of the onshore substation. The Danish Energy Agency granted a 30-year electricity production license for the project in January 2026, clearing the final regulatory prerequisite for commissioning. RWE has also built a dedicated operations and maintenance facility at the Port of Thorsminde, which will create 50 to 60 local jobs when it officially opens in March 2026.
Project history
RWE secured the rights to develop Thor through a competitive tender in November 2021. The project is located approximately 22 kilometers off Denmark’s west coast, near the town of Thorsminde in Jutland. It is the first of three large-scale offshore wind farms that the Danish Parliament authorized in 2018, with a collective target of expanding Denmark’s offshore wind capacity before 2030.
Why It Matters
Thor represents a significant addition to European offshore wind capacity at a time when the continent is working to accelerate its energy transition. At 1.1 GW, the project ranks among the largest offshore wind installations currently under construction in Europe. Its rapid progression from first turbine to first power in under two weeks signals that the logistical and engineering challenges of large-scale offshore wind deployment continue to improve.
The project’s use of low-carbon steel towers and recyclable blades also addresses growing scrutiny of the wind industry’s own environmental footprint. As offshore wind scales globally, the embodied carbon in manufacturing and the disposal of composite materials have emerged as material concerns. Thor’s approach offers an early template for reducing lifecycle emissions beyond the operational phase.
For Denmark, Thor advances the country’s position as a pioneer in offshore wind energy. Denmark installed the world’s first offshore wind farm in 1991 and has since maintained a leadership role in the sector. The International Energy Agency has projected that Denmark’s total renewable electricity capacity will nearly double over the 2022 to 2027 period, driven in significant part by Thor and other planned offshore installations.
Sven Utermohlen, CEO of RWE Offshore Wind, said the project “is progressing exactly as planned,” while Energinet CEO Kim Willerslev Jakobsen noted that green electricity is now “flowing in from the North Sea” to serve Danish consumers and international customers.