About this map
Every offshore wind farm in the North Sea and the Baltic, shown in the year it first fed power to the grid, from Vindeby's eleven small turbines off Lolland in 1991 to the gigawatt farms of today. The last frame adds farms under construction and approved farms (November 2026). Farm areas are the licensed sites; small farms are drawn at least 3 km wide so they stay visible. Inland farms (IJsselmeer, lakes, Limfjord) and single-turbine prototypes are left out. Data: EMODnet Human Activities, Offshore Wind Farms (CC BY 4.0), checked against operators, energy agencies and trade press.
Text version: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/offshore-wind-in-the-north-sea-and-baltic-19912026.md
Timeline
| Date | What the map shows |
|---|---|
| 31 Dec 1991 | 1991 · Vindeby · 5 MW |
| 31 Dec 1992 | 1992 · 5 MW |
| 31 Dec 1993 | 1993 · 5 MW |
| 31 Dec 1994 | 1994 · 5 MW |
| 31 Dec 1995 | 1995 · Tunø Knob · 10 MW |
| 31 Dec 1996 | 1996 · 10 MW |
| 31 Dec 1997 | 1997 · 10 MW |
| 31 Dec 1998 | 1998 · Bockstigen · 13 MW |
| 31 Dec 1999 | 1999 · 13 MW |
| 31 Dec 2000 | 2000 · Middelgrunden +2 · 27 MW |
| 31 Dec 2001 | 2001 · Yttre Stengrund · 77 MW |
| 31 Dec 2002 | 2002 · Horns Rev 1 · 237 MW |
| 31 Dec 2003 | 2003 · Nysted (Rødsand I) +2 · 433 MW |
| 31 Dec 2004 | 2004 · Scroby Sands · 493 MW |
| 31 Dec 2005 | 2005 · Kentish Flats · 583 MW |
| 31 Dec 2006 | 2006 · Egmond aan Zee (OWEZ) · 583 MW |
| 31 Dec 2007 | 2007 · Prinses Amalia (Q… +2 · 812 MW |
| 31 Dec 2008 | 2008 · Lynn +1 · 932 MW |
| 31 Dec 2009 | 2009 · Horns Rev 2 +6 · 1.5 GW |
| 31 Dec 2010 | 2010 · Greater Gabbard +4 · 2.3 GW |
| 31 Dec 2011 | 2011 · Sheringham Shoal +1 · 2.4 GW |
| 31 Dec 2012 | 2012 · London Array +3 · 3.2 GW |
| 31 Dec 2013 | 2013 · Teesside +2 · 5.3 GW |
| 31 Dec 2014 | 2014 · Nordsee Ost +4 · 5.9 GW |
| 31 Dec 2015 | 2015 · Global Tech I +9 · 8.9 GW |
| 31 Dec 2016 | 2016 · Gemini +3 · 9.4 GW |
| 31 Dec 2017 | 2017 · Race Bank +10 · 11.8 GW |
| 31 Dec 2018 | 2018 · Beatrice +7 · 13.5 GW |
| 31 Dec 2019 | 2019 · Hornsea 1 +5 · 17.8 GW |
| 31 Dec 2020 | 2020 · Borssele I-II +5 · 20.6 GW |
| 31 Dec 2021 | 2021 · Hornsea 2 +6 · 22.0 GW |
| 31 Dec 2022 | 2022 · Hollandse Kust Zu… +3 · 25.2 GW |
| 31 Dec 2023 | 2023 · Dogger Bank A +3 · 28.9 GW |
| 31 Dec 2024 | 2024 · Moray West +4 · 30.8 GW |
| 31 Dec 2025 | 2025 · He Dreiht +1 · 33.8 GW |
| 31 Oct 2026 | 2026 · Sofia +6 · 41 GW, part-built |
| 6 Nov 2026 | 2026 · Built, being built, approved |
Layers
Approved, not yet built · Under construction · First power 1991 · First power 1995 · First power 1998 · First power 2000 · First power 2001 · First power 2002 · First power 2003 · First power 2004 · First power 2005 · First power 2006 · First power 2007 · First power 2008 · First power 2009 · First power 2010 · First power 2011 · First power 2012 · First power 2013 · First power 2014 · First power 2015 · First power 2016 · First power 2017 · First power 2018 · First power 2019 · First power 2020 · First power 2021 · First power 2022 · First power 2023 · First power 2024 · First power 2025 · First power 2026
Events
- 1 Jul 1991, 1991 · Vindeby, the first offshore wind farm: Eleven Bonus 450 kW turbines (4.95 MW in total) stood in shallow water off Lolland, Denmark. They ran for 25 years and were taken down in 2017. Source: Ørsted, CNBC, 4C Offshore.
- 11 Dec 2002, 2002 · Horns Rev 1, the first large offshore farm: Eighty Vestas 2 MW turbines (160 MW) off Blåvands Huk, about four times the size of any earlier offshore farm. Source: Wikipedia (Horns Rev 1), Ørsted.
- 18 Apr 2007, Apr 2007 · Egmond aan Zee, first Dutch North Sea farm: Thirty-six Vestas 3 MW turbines (108 MW) about 10–18 km off the Dutch coast, opened in April 2007. Source: Wikipedia (Egmond aan Zee Offshore Wind Farm).
- 27 Apr 2010, Apr 2010 · alpha ventus, Germany's first offshore farm: Twelve 5 MW turbines (60 MW) in 30 m of water, 45 km north of Borkum, built as a test field for the deep German North Sea. Source: Wikipedia (Alpha Ventus Offshore Wind Farm).
- 4 Jul 2013, Jul 2013 · London Array, world's largest at 630 MW: 175 Siemens 3.6 MW turbines in the Thames estuary, opened in July 2013 and the largest offshore wind farm in the world until 2018. Source: Wikipedia (London Array).
- 15 Feb 2019, 2019 · Hornsea One, the first gigawatt farm: 174 Siemens Gamesa 7 MW turbines (1.2 GW) 120 km off Yorkshire, the first offshore farm over 1 GW. Its neighbour Hornsea 2 (1.3 GW) took the world-largest title in August 2022. Source: Ørsted, Wikipedia (Hornsea Wind Farm).
- 20 Oct 2020, Oct 2020 · Kriegers Flak, a grid for two countries: Two 200 MW sea cables between the Danish Kriegers Flak and German Baltic 2 farms let power flow to either country. Opened as the first hybrid offshore interconnector. Source: offshoreWIND.biz, Hitachi Energy, 50Hertz.
- 24 Apr 2023, Apr 2023 · Ostend Declaration: 300 GW by 2050: In Esbjerg in May 2022, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium promised at least 65 GW of North Sea offshore wind by 2030 and 150 GW by 2050. In Ostend a year later nine countries raised that to about 120 GW by 2030 and 300 GW by 2050 for the North Seas. Source: Danish Ministry of Climate, UK…
- 29 Sep 2023, Sep 2023 · Hollandse Kust Zuid, built without subsidy: 139 Siemens Gamesa 11 MW turbines (1.5 GW) off The Hague and Zandvoort. Vattenfall won the site in 2018 with a bid for no subsidy, the first such award, and it was opened in September 2023. Source: Vattenfall, offshoreWIND.biz, Wikipedia.
- 4 Feb 2025, Feb 2025 · Belgium's energy island hits cost wall: Belgium is building an artificial island 45 km offshore to collect power from 3.5 GW of new farms. In 2025 its operator Elia postponed the high-voltage DC contracts after prices soared, delaying the project by about three years. Source: Elia, Riviera, offshoreWIND.biz.
- 10 Jul 2026, Jul 2026 · Baltic Power, Poland's first offshore farm: The first power from Poland's first offshore wind farm reached the grid, 23 km off Łeba. When finished, its 76 Vestas 15 MW turbines will make it about 1.1–1.2 GW. Source: Orlen, Northland Power, Energy Global.