Horns Rev 1
Located ~14-20 km west of Esbjerg, Jutland. Originally built by Elsam/DONG (now Ørsted); Vattenfall acquired 60% in 2005 and is operator.
Status
Operationallifecycle stage
Ownership
Vattenfall — 60% ◆
Ørsted — 40% ◆Location
DenmarkNorth Sea
Technology
Capacity
158 MW ◆
Turbines
80 × 2 MW ◆
Model
Vestas V80 2-0 ◆
Foundation
Monopile ◆
Site & conditions
Site rights
Seabed rights held ∴
Water depth
6–14 m ◆
Distance from shore
14 km ◆
Wind speed
9.9 m/s @ 100 m ≈
Revenue & grid
Offtake
FiT ◆
Grid
Secured · 2002 ◆
Connection
Blaabjerg switching station (150 kV, 21 km submarine cable) ◆
Schedule
FID
Taken · date not recorded ∴
COD
2002-Q4 ◆
Project timeline & ownership verified milestones on the spine · ownership from Hafrok’s transactions record
Acquisition · 2005-05
Ørsted → Vattenfall 60%
- Stake
- 60%
- Consideration
- €268m
- Implied 100% value
- €447m
- Implied
- €2.80m / MW
- Announced
- 2005-05
- Closed
- 2006-07
- Project stage
- operational
Vattenfall acquired a 60% stake in Horns Rev 1 from Elsam (subsequently merged into DONG Energy in 2006) as part of a broader Main Asset Swap Agreement (MASA) signed 31 May 2005 between Vattenfall and DONG Energy (the acquirer of Elsam/Energi E2). Under the MASA, Vattenfall received approximately 20-25% of the total assets of Elsam and Energi E2, including the 60% interest in Horns Rev 1. Vattenfall became the operational partner.
Deal closed 1 July 2006 (aligned with DONG/Elsam/E2 merger completion, approved by European Commission 14 March 2006). Wind farm was operational from December 2002 at time of stake transfer.
Deal value: DKK 2 billion for the 60% stake (confirmed in multiple sources). Converted at ~7.46 DKK/EUR = EUR 268.4m. Implied 100% project value = EUR 268.4m / 0.60 = EUR 447.4m. Implied EUR/MW = EUR 447.4m / 160 MW = EUR 2,796k/MW. This is within the operational range (EUR 1,800k–4,500k/MW) and consistent with a 2005/06 vintage, early-stage sector, North Sea PSO-backed project.
Seller entity at transaction time: Elsam; mapped to Ørsted per canonical conventions (Elsam merged into DONG Energy 2006, renamed Ørsted 2017). The 40% DONG/Ørsted stake was retained (Ørsted still holds 40% today). Original DKK: DKK 2,000m / 7.46 = EUR 268.4m.
Evidence
- group.vattenfall.com — How Horns Rev 1 paved the way for offshore wind ↗ 2005-05 ◆ held
- European Commission (DG Competition) — M3867 20051222 20310 En ↗ 2005-12-22 ◆ held
From Hafrok’s transactions record
Dashed tick marks today (9 Sep 2026). Ownership lives in the band below: one station per recorded deal, dated at its label, in deal order rather than to calendar scale. Secondary trades appear only at the interchanges; grey lines are parties whose entry or exit Hafrok’s record does not hold.
Revenue & offtake the regime the project was built under
Offtake regime on record
RegimePSO feed-in tariff (43 ore/kWh supplement for 10 years, total ~45.3 ore/kWh; then up to 10 ore/kWh to year 20)
InstrumentFiT
A built project sells its power under the contract or support regime it was financed with; it is not expected to bid into new government offtake rounds. Where the record does not yet name that regime, the row says so rather than guessing.
Installation how the build is going · from satellite counts and Hafrok’s registers
Satellite survey
the farm as it stands, counted from satellite radar images · built before the count began, so there is no build to chart
Satellite survey
Structures standing80≈80 turbines + 1 platform expected · 1 fewer than expected — a position the survey missed
Surveyed2026-09-01≈from 119 satellite passes
Built2002 → 2002-Q4offshore construction to start of operation, from the record
Hafrok counts the structures standing in the sea from satellite radar images (≈) and reads the count against the turbines and platforms on record. The farm was built before this count began, so the images show it complete; they cannot date its construction. Rows marked with a dot (·) come from Hafrok’s own registers.
Satellite image
Image taken2026-09-07≈Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar satellite, southbound pass
Farm covered100%≈the whole farm lies inside the image
Structures ringed80 confirmed · 0 not yet confirmed≈as counted on 2026-09-01 · the image is newer than the count, so a bright spot without a ring may be a structure not yet counted
Construction ports
PortPort of Esbjerg ◆·operations base · quay 10000 m · crane 300 t · draft 15 m
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026, processed by ESA and by Microsoft Planetary Computer.
Latest satellite radar image · 2026-09-07
a radar picture, not a photograph: the sea is dark, steel is bright · black is beyond the edge of the image
confirmed structure (80)seen recently, not yet confirmed (0)probably a substation platform (a larger structure than a turbine; the register above has the facts)farm boundary
Grid connection
from Hafrok’s substation, converter and cable registers
Offshore platforms · 1
Offshore substationHorns Rev 1 transformer platform·owner Vattenfall (60%) / Ørsted (40%) — the ENS established-parks page states that split for the WIND FARM; no held document apportions the platform itself.
Sources & verification
17/18 fields verified · rests on 10 sources (6 primary) · ◆ 9 documents held
◆Verified≈Modelled◇Sourced∴Inferred⌁Convention○Unverified∅No source·Derived
Numbers are stable citation ids — grouped by source class, so they are not consecutive.
Regulator3
[1]
Energistyrelsen (Danish Energy Agency)2001-03◆ Energistyrelsens godkendelse og sammenfa…
"Den 29. marts 2001 Miljø- og energiministeren gav med brev af 13. februar 1998 ... pålæg til Elsam og Eltra om i fællesskab at opføre op til 300 MW havbaseret vindkraft." "havvindmølleparken vil få e…
supportsConsentTotal capacityFoundationWater depthDistance from shore+1 more
[2]
Energistyrelsen (Danish Energy Agency)2002◆ Elproduktionsbevilling for Horns Rev 1
“Elproduktionsbevilling for Horns Rev 1. Scanned document — no machine-readable text layer. Per secondary sources dated 2002-07-25. Backs lifecycle.offtake_secured (production licence issued by Energis…”
supportsMechanismDetail
[3]
Energistyrelsen (Danish Energy Agency)◆ Eksisterende havvindmølleparker
"Vindmølleparken blev etableret i 2002 og består af i alt 80 møller på i alt 160 MW." "Vattenfall besidder 60 procent af ejerskabet for Horns Rev Vindmøllepark, mens Ørsted besidder de sidste 40 proce…
supportsTurbines
Operator3
[4]
Ørsted A/S (DONG Energy)2015-05◆ Horns Rev 1 wind turbine has reached the…
"Horns Rev 1 consists of 80 Vestas 2.0MW wind turbines and has a total capacity of 160MW. The wind farm is located approximately 20km west off Blåvandshuk on the west coast of Jutland. Vattenfall oper…
supportsownerTurbinesModelUnit capacityTotal capacity+1 more
[6]
Vattenfall◆ Power plants: Horns Rev 1 - Vattenfall
“Horns Rev 1 "20 kilometres off the west coast of Jutland." "158 megawatts of electricity using 80 turbines supplied by Vestas." "In Operation (inaugurated in 2002)." "Vattenfall Ownership: 60%." Water…”
supportsTurbinesModelStatusConnection pointWater depth+1 more
[10]
Vattenfall2025◆ Vattenfall — vattenfall corporate factbo…
“Horns Rev 1 60% 95 158”
supportsTotal capacity
Financier1
[7]
European Investment Bank2002-07-05◆ ELSAM OFFSHORE WINDFARM
"ELSAM OFFSHORE WINDFARM." Promoter: "Elsam A/S, Fredericia, Denmark." "80 wind turbines with 2 MWe capacity each, generating approximately 600 GWh annually." "Approved: 5 July 2002. Signed: 19 May 20…
supportsTurbinesUnit capacity
Trade press3
[5]
[8]
Tethys (PNNL / US DOE)◆ Horns Rev 1 | Tethys
"Construction Start: March 1, 2002." "First Turbine: July 29, 2002." "Full Commission: December 11, 2002." "Foundation Type: Monopile." "Water Depth: 6-14 m." "Distance from Shore: 20 km." "Capacity p…
supportsFinal investment decisionOnshore constructionOffshore constructionFirst powerCommercial operation+4 more
[9]