Offshore wind power

Offshore wind power plays an indispensable role in the global green energy transition.

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Our projects in Korea

In a spin: the basics of electromagnetic power

How do we send power ashore?

FAQs of offshore wind

In just a few decades, offshore wind has gone from being an untested idea to a mature and competitive technology.

In Denmark, where Ørsted is headquartered, offshore wind power has reduced carbon emissions and developed a new industry that employs thousands of people throughout the country.

In 1991, we built the world’s first offshore wind farm, Vindeby, in the shallow waters of Lolland, Denmark. With eleven small wind turbines, this wind farm could power almost 2,200 households' energy consumption. Today’s turbines are significantly larger and more efficient. Just one turbine at one of our new wind farms can produce more electricity than the entire Vindeby wind farm could back then.

Our offshore wind projects in Korea

Electromagnetism in offshore wind turbines

Electrical energy can be generated by rotating magnets inside a coil of conductive wire. The big question is how to achieve that rotation.

In conventional power stations, fossil fuels like coal, gas and oil are burnt to heat water, producing high pressure steam that can drive a turbine and, in turn, an electrical generator.

Unfortunately, this also produces carbon dioxide, other harmful emissions, and relies on finite resources that need to be constantly extracted and transported to a power station. In a wind turbine, the rotation is achieved through the clean, natural, and ultimately unlimited power of the wind.

How do we bring wind power ashore?

Each wind turbine sends its power through cables down the tower and under the seabed to an offshore substation. Here the energy is stepped up to a higher voltage ready to send ashore via high-voltage cables. Higher voltage means less energy is lost in transmission. On land, another substation adjusts the voltage again so that the electricity can be fed into the grid and distributed via power lines to the homes and businesses that need it.

Offshore wind power