Hesselø Offshore Wind Farm
The preliminary timetable for the Hesselø OWF project including tendering procedure and the deadlines after the concession is awarded are outlined in the follow-ing. Please note that the timetable can be amended to accommodate possible changes arising from the mar-ket dialogue or unforeseen circumstances.
Timetable for tendering process
A Prior Information Notice specifying the overall na-ture and scope of work will be published in Q2 2021.
Later on, in Q3 2021, a Contract Notice describing the terms and conditions for the call for tenders will be published together with the tendering material and the pre-qualification material – this will officially launch the tendering process. The tendering material comprises a complete set of tendering conditions, including draft concession agreement, draft licences, etc.
The application period for pre-qualification is expect-ed to last about 60 days. The deadline for submission of applications is expected in Q4 2021.
When publishing the Contract Notice and launching the prequalification period in Q3 2021, the DEA will provide information on all relevant data and reports
available at the time. Since some of the data and envi-ronmental assessments will be published after the pre-qualification is concluded, the DEA will also provide a list of expected conditions concerning all elements of site investigations and environmental assessments at the time of publishing the Contract Notice and launch-ing the pre-qualification (e.g. results of completed ge-otechnical and geophysical surveys, MetOcean data collection as well as the supplementary environmental assessments).
The final results of the preliminary surveys and site in-vestigations as well as the reporting on the SEA will be made available by the DEA before tenderers have to prepare their final bids.
Moreover, it is important to stress that the tendering conditions can be modified to some degree as a result of the negotiation process in Q2 2022.
On the basis of the results of the negotiated process, the final tendering conditions will be published in Q3 2022. This will give tenderers no less than three months to meet the deadline for the final bid in Q4 2022.
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Timeline
2020 2021
2022
2023 2024 2026 2027
Q3 2021: Publication of the Contract Notice, tendering material and launch of pre-qualification June 2020: Climate Agreement – decisions on site and capacity etc.
October 2020: Licence to conduct preliminary investigations given to Energinet November 25-30 2020: Market dialogue on framework for tender conditions Q2 2021: Political decision on design for support mechanism
Q4 2022: Deadline for final bids
Q2 2021: Publication of a Prior Information Notice containing tender scope and nature
Q4 2022: Announcement of the concession winner
Q4 2022: Transfer of onshore EIA approval to concessionaire Q4 2021: Deadline for pre-qualification application
Q4 2021: Result of pre-qualification and call for preliminary bids
Q2 2022: Negotiation process
Q1 2022: Deadline for the prequalified tenderers to submit preliminary bids (for negotiation)
Q3 2022: Approval of the EIA of the onshore export facilities Q3 2022: Approval of the SEA of the plan for Hesselø OWF
April 1 2022: Latest expected publication of the results from the preliminary geotechnical, geophysical and marine biological surveys
Q3 2022: Publication of the final tendering conditions and call for final bids
Q2 2023: Possible granting of licence for preliminary studies Q3 2023: Q3 2024 – Project design and EIA process Q4 2024: Possible granting of licence for construction Q1 2026: First power / POC ready
Q4 2027 (latest): Full commission of the wind farm
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Timetable for concessionaire
From the award of the concession contract, the con-cessionaire will have approx. five years until the dead-line for full commission on 31 December 2027 to con-struct the wind farm and export facility. On 1 January 2026, i.e. three years after the award of the conces-sion contract, and two years before the deadline for full commission, the POC will be ready, meaning that this is the date where the concessionaire can deliver first power to the collective grid.
The concessionaire can utilize these five years as the concessionaire sees best. Shortly after the conces-sion winner has been announced in Q4 2022, the concessionaire will obtain a licence from the DEA to conduct preliminary investigations of the site for the offshore wind farm in order to carry out detailed site investigations and the EIA for the concrete project off-shore.
Furthermore, Energinet will transfer the EIA approval for the concessionaire’s parts of the onshore export facility to the concessionaire. This will enable the con-cessionaire to initiate the processes for the onshore project right away. When the concessionaire has com-pleted the EIA process for the offshore part of the pro-ject and delivered all other necessary documentation, the DEA will issue the construction licence, provided
that the DEA can approve the EIA. The concessionaire is thereafter obliged to establish the wind farm before the end of 2027, when 95% of the planned capacity must be connected to the collective grid.
The state aid aspect and legislative amendments The support scheme for Hesselø has not yet been de-cided, as referred to in section 7. A support scheme including subsidies would represent state aid in line with article 107, no. 1, of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Notification of state aid to the European Commission, if necessary, will be carried out from Q2 2021 to Q2 2022 on the basis of a standing di-alogue between the DEA and the European Commis-sion. The call for tender might therefore be conditional upon approval from the European Commission, since any aid design stipulated in the call for tender must be compatible with EU state aid regulations. The DEA ex-pects this approval process, if it should be necessary, to be finalized by the time the final revised tendering conditions are published in Q3 2022.
In addition, the call for tenders will be conditional on legislative amendments with regard to certain con-ditions for the concession. The DEA expects these legislative amendments to enter into force before the tenderers have to prepare their final bids in Q3 2022.
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Questions
5.1.
The proposed timetable provides about 60 days for prequalification (beginning Q3 2021), 85 days for submission of preliminary bids (beginning late Q4 2021, incl. end of year celebrations) and 90 days for submission of final bids (beginning Q3 2022). Are these time slots sufficient?
5.2.
In the proposed timetable, the TSO Energinet will have the POC ready by 1 January, 2026, when first power can be delivered to the grid. Is it realistic that the concessionaire will be able to use the POC at this point in time?
5.3.
Do the five years from when the concession is awarded to the deadline for full commission of the wind farm provide a realistic timeframe for the concessionaire for establishment of the off-shore wind farm and export facilities?
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In order to ensure that only serious, professional pro-ject developers will be invited to submit tenders, the DEA will conduct pre-qualification with a number of minimum requirements regarding the financial and technical capacities of the applicants. The minimum requirements the DEA will be applying are in their nature similar to those required in previous pre-qual-ification processes for Danish offshore wind tenders, particularly for Thor OWF. The DEA is considering pre-qualifying a maximum of 10 applicants.
In order to meet the minimum requirements regarding financial and technical capacities, the applicant may, where appropriate, rely on the capacities of other enti-ties, regardless of the legal nature of the links which it has with them. If an applicant, which relies on the technical and professional capacities of another en-tity, wins the tender, the supporting entity must carry out the relevant tasks and must in general not be re-placed in this function by other entities including the applicant itself.
Therefore, the applicant may only rely on the capaci-ties of other enticapaci-ties where those will perform the