Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2025-11-21
Buyer: Danish Energy Agency
Country: DK
Region: DK011
Contract type: Works
Procedure: Open procedure
CPV classification: 31121320 | 31121330 | 31121340 | 31160000 | 31170000
Estimated value: 21900000000 DKK
Submission deadline: 2026-05-20
Award criteria: price
EU fund: eu-funds

Technical requirements: If the Tenderer is covered by the mandatory exclusion ground stated in section 135 (1), no. 2, and section 135 (2), of the consolidated act no. 116 of 3 February 2025 (Danish Public Procurement Act) with amendments, the Tenderer shall be excluded from participating in the procurement procedure.
If the Tenderer is covered by the mandatory exclusion ground stated in section 135 (1), no. 3, and section 135 (2) of the consolidated act no. 116 of 3 February 2025 (Danish Public Procurement Act) with amendments, the Tenderer shall be excluded from participating in the procurement procedure.
If the Tenderer is covered by the mandatory exclusion ground stated in section 135 (1), no. 5, and section 135 (2) of the consolidated act no. 116 of 3 February 2025 Danish Public Procurement Act) with amendments, the Tenderer shall be excluded from participating in the procurement procedure.
If the Tenderer is covered by the mandatory exclusion ground stated in section 135 (1), no. 1, and section 135 (2), of the consolidated act no. 116 of 3 February 2025 (Danish Public Procurement Act) with amendments, the Tenderer shall be excluded from participating in the procurement procedure.
If the Tenderer is covered by the mandatory exclusion ground stated in section 135 (1), no. 4, and section 135 (2) of the consolidated act no. 116 of 3 February 2025 Danish Public Procurement Act) with amendments, the Tenderer shall be excluded from participating in the procurement procedure.

Eligibility requirements: The Tenderer must fulfil the following minimum requirement in order to demonstrate the ability to perform the Concession Agreement: 
1. At least one (1) reference covering a largescale offshore project in relation to energy production, completed within the last ten (10) years. A largescale offshore project in relation to energy production must, as a minimum, have the following characteristics in order to be considered:

a. Construction costs (CAPEX) of minimum DKK 500,000,000, 
b. be fixed to the seabed, at least at 10 meters sea depth in average across the site, and 
c. have a duration of contract, permit, licence, approval or the like of min. 25 years. 
The reference must show experience with at least three (3) of the six (6) following key areas: 
1) project management, 
2) engineering, 
3) procurement, 
4) execution, 
5) operation, or 
6) quality control. 

The Tenderer may document experience with the above in a minimum of three (3) key areas via one (1) or more references, provided that each reference covers a largescale offshore project in relation to energy production.
Only references completed within the latest ten (10) years before the expiry of the deadline for submission of tender will be accepted. As regard the assessment of whether a largescale offshore project is completed within the latest ten (10) years, the DEA will accept the following examples (which are not exhaustive): 
• An offshore wind farm with an A/C substation where the last turbine has delivered the first kWh to the grid (fully commissioned offshore wind farm). 
• An offshore oil- and gas development project including installation of fixed installations and commissioning and subsequent production/operation.
Information regarding the references should be specified in part IV, section C of the ESPD. If the Tenderer prefers to submit the list of references as a separate document, this is accepted as well. However, illustrations, photographs etc. will not be taken into account. 
Re (1)
For each project used as a reference (at least one (1), maximum five (5) references), the Tenderer must provide the following description:
a. Name of largescale offshore project 
b. Description of main elements of the largescale offshore project including where relevant grid connection (AC-substation, etc.) from the offshore project to onshore/offshore point of connection;
c. Contact person at the contracting entity and/or the authority who awards the permit/licence/approval or the like (preferably including phone number and email address);
d. Contract signing date or the date of issuing the permit/licence/approval etc. (with the minimum duration of 25 years);
e. Location of the largescale offshore project;
f. The Tenderer's/the supporting entity’s role (i.e. developer, owner, main consultant, sub-contractor, financial investor, or other);
g. The Tenderer's/the supporting entity’s contribution to the project within the following key areas: 1) project management, 2) engineering, 3) procurement, 4) execution, 5) operation and/or 6) quality control;
h. Time of completion of the project (within the last 10 years).
If more than a total of five (5) references completed within the latest ten (10) years before the expiry of the deadline for submission of tender are submitted by a Tenderer, including where a Tenderer is a group of economic entities, e.g. a consortium or joint venture, only the five (5) newest references completed within the latest ten (10) years before the expiry of the deadline for submission of tender will be considered. 
If it is not possible to identify the five (5) newest references, the five (5) newest references will be selected by drawing of lots of the references submitted by the remaining entities in the group of Tenderers or from the supporting entities which has been completed within the latest ten (10) years before the expiry of the deadline for submission of tender.
Upon request, the Tenderer to whom the DEA intends to award the Concession Agreement must submit documentation regarding the information stated in the ESPD, cf. section 151 of the Danish Public Procurement Act. The list of references, that the Tenderer specifies in the ESPD will constitute the final documentation for the Tenderer's information about the technical and professional capacity. Reference is further made to the Procurement Specifications, section 11.
The Tenderer to whom the Concession Agreement is awarded must, at its own risk and expense, obtain all approvals, licences and permits required under applicable legislation to establish the Offshore Wind Farm. The Tenderer should be aware that further requirements regarding additional guarantee in connection with decommissioning of the offshore wind farm will be stated in relevant approvals, licenses and permits, pursuant to applicable legislation.

After full termination pursuant to Sub-Clause 20.1 of Annex F, the DEA may acquire, and the Concessionaire must sell, the Offshore Wind Farm, including all related information, know-how, documentation, records etc., against payment of a purchase price determined in accordance with Sub-Clause 20.2.2 of Annex F (Concession Agreement).
Award of the Concession Agreement to the most economically advantageous tender will take place on the basis of the award criterion, “price”.
The award criterion, “price”, will be assessed on the basis of the bid price offered by the Tenderer in the Tender Submission Letter (Annex A), in the Procurement Specifications.
The offered bid price must constitute a price per unit of electricity in “DKK”/MWh excl. VAT, which the Tenderer will be guaranteed for the duration of the 20-year subsidy period. The bid price of the Successful Tenderer will constitute the so-called “strike price” under the Concession agreement, cf. Appendix F (Concession Agreement) and Appendix 3 (Capability-Based Two-Way Contract for Difference).
The Tenderer submitting the tender with the lowest offered bid price will be awarded the right and obligation to establish an offshore wind farm in the concession area, as set out in Appendix 2 (Location of the Concession Area).
According to the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement Act (statutory order no. 448 from 8. May 2025), the following deadlines apply for submission of complaint regarding the procurement procedure:
Complaints regarding the procurement procedure must be submitted to the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement within:
1) 45 calendar days after the contracting authority has published a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union stating that the contracting authority has entered into a contract. The deadline is calculated from the day after the day on which the notice has been published.
2) 30 calendar days counted from the day after the day on which the contracting authority has notified the affected tenderers that a contract based on a framework agreement with re-opening of the competition or a dynamic purchasing system has been entered into, if the notification has given a reason for the decision.
 3) six months after the contracting authority has entered into a framework agreement calculated from the day after the day on which the contracting authority has notified the affected applicants and tenderers, see section 2 (2) of the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement Act, and article 40 of directive 2014/23/EU on the award of concession contracts. At the latest at the same time as a complaint is submitted to the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement, the complainant must notify the contracting authority in writing that a complaint is being submitted to the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement, and whether the complaint has been submitted during the standstill period, cf. section 6 (4) of the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement Act. In cases where the complaint has not been submitted during the standstill period, the complainant must also indicate whether a suspensive effect of the complaint is requested, cf. section 12 (1) of the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement Act.
The email address of the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement: klfu@naevneneshus.dk.
The Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement’s guidance on submitting complaints can be found at: https://naevneneshus.dk/naevnsoversigt/klagenaevnet-for-udbud/vejledning/
The tenders will be opened in the electronic procurement system. Tenderers are not allowed to attend the opening of tenders.
The electronic procurement system
The Danish Parliament has in recent years agreed to a large expansion in offshore wind farms in Denmark. The aim is to ensure the green transition and strengthening the future security of supply of energy in Denmark. The political agreements that this procurement concerns are:
- Climate Agreement from 29 June 2018,
- Climate Agreement from 22 June 2020,
- the Financial Act from 4 December 2022,
- Climate Agreement regarding green electricity and heat from 25 June 2022
- Additional Agreement on the procurement details regarding 6 GW offshore wind and Energy Island Bornholm from May 30 2023, and
- Agreement on procurement frameworks for three offshore wind farms from 19 May 2025 as adjusted on 7 November 2025.
This procurement concerns the establishment of one (1) new large-scale offshore wind farm named Hesselø, pursuant to the directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement as implemented into Danish law by the Danish Public Procurement Act, cf. consolidated act no. 116 of 3 February 2025 with later amendments (in Danish: Udbudsloven). The procurement procedure applicable to this procurement constitutes an open procedure, cf. section 56 of the Danish Public Procurement Act.
The Concessionaire is granted a right and obligations to utilise the concession area for the establishment and operation of an offshore wind farm with a minimum capacity of 800 MWh for the purpose of producing and distributing electricity at the sole risk and expense of the Concessionaire.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the concessionaire of Hesselø Offshore Wind Farm, will be economically supported for the electricity produced from the minimum capacity by a capability based two-way contract for difference (“CfD”) scheme for a period of 20 years. Under the capability-based two-way CfD scheme, the Concessionaire must make payments to the Danish State in months where the strike price (equal to the “bid price” of the Successful Tenderer) is lower than the reference price (to be calculated by the DEA as the weighted monthly average of the day-ahead prices, weighted by the maximum power production capability of the turbines or “Available Active Power” as further set out in the procurements material). There is no cap on the payments from the Concessionaire to the Danish State, and the Concessionaire has no option to opt out of the capability-based two-way CfD scheme. Correspondingly, in months where the strike price is higher than the reference price, the Concessionaire will receive subsidies up to cap of 21.9 billion DKK excl. VAT (2025-prices) in the form of payments from the Danish State. Reference is made to the Annex F (Concession Agreement) and Appendix 3 (Capability-Based Two-Way Contract for Difference) for an overall description of the principles in capability-based two-way CfD scheme. The scheme constitutes State aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
Please note that the name of the offshore wind farm can be changed by the Danish Energy Agency (“DEA”). Such change will not affect the geographical location of the offshore wind farm. Hesselø will in the following be called “the Offshore Wind Farm”.
The minimum capacity of the Offshore Wind Farm shall be established no later than 31 December 2032. The concessionaire will in special cases be entitled to an extension of this deadline. Connection of the Offshore Wind Farm to the Danish transmission grid is voluntary for the concessionaire. The Concession Agreement further enables the Concessionaire to establish overplanting capacity in excess of the required minimum capacity within the concession area, i.e. it is optional for Concessionaire to establish more than 800 MW capacity within the Concession Area. Furthermore, the Concessionaire may exploit the production capacity of electricity from the Offshore Wind Farm for energy production, such as but not limited to innovative energy production (e.g. Power-to-X), if this is otherwise possible within the applicable legislation.
With the sole exception of the capability-based two-way CfD scheme, the Concessionaire bears all commercial risks associated with the establishment, operation and decommissioning of the Offshore Wind Farm, including any potential overplanting capacity. Such commercial risks include but is not limited to, legislative changes and general market conditions and demands. Additionally, the Concessionaire is responsible for the commercial risks related to any innovative energy production (e.g. Power-to-X facility). The Concessionaire shall bear the costs as stipulated in the construction permit and/or procurement material. Please note that contrary to earlier procurements rounds concerning offshore wind the Concessionaire shall not bear the actual cost of the temporary and permanent preventive measures, which by decision of the Danish Defence must be implemented by the Concessionaire to prevent deteriorations in the quality of the current military radio communication and radar surveillance caused by the Offshore Wind Farm. Such costs will be borne by the Danish Defence. Furthermore, contrary to earlier procurements rounds for offshore wind, the Concessionaire shall not pay the cost of the offshore preliminary investigations performed by Energinet, cf. section 23 (3) of the Renewable Energy Act (RE Act), statutory order no. 132 of 6 February 2024. Such costs will be borne by the Danish State.

The location site of the Offshore Wind Farm is further stated below under section "Place of Performance" as well as in the procurement material Appendix 2 (Location of the Concession Area).
Reference is further made to the regulation in the Procurement Specifications, Annex F (Concession Agreement), Appendix 1 (Project Specification), and the procurement material as a whole.
The location site of the Offshore Wind Farm is further specified in the procurement material, Appendix 2 (Location of the Concession Area).
The Concession Agreement shall take effect on signing of the Concession Agreement and shall continue for the duration of the electricity production permit, cf. section 29 of RE Act, and until the Concessionaire has fulfilled its obligations under the Concession Agreement, including the obligations after end of operation to dismantle and decommission the Offshore Wind Farm, pursuant to relevant approvals, licenses and permits in accordance with applicable Laws.
The capability-based two-way CfD scheme will apply to electricity produced from the minimum capacity for a period of 20 years as further described in Appendix 3 (Capability-Based Two-Way Contract for Difference) and Annex F (Concession Agreement), Clause 11. The duration of the capability-based two-way CfD scheme will not be extended.
The electricity production permit is granted for 30 years and can be extended upon application, cf. RE Act, section 29 (2). Before the expiry of the permit, the Concessionaire shall be entitled to request the DEA for an extension of the duration of the Concession Agreement on unchanged terms and conditions, with the exception of the capability-based two-way CfD scheme. 
The DEA will consent to such extension of the Concession Agreement provided a) the Concessionaire is granted permission to extension of the electricity production permit pursuant to the RE Act section 29 after application for a period not exceeding 10 years; and b) the requested extension of the Concession Agreement is considered by the DEA to be permissible under applicable legislation at the time, including but not limited to the relevant applicable procurement rules, rules on state aid and any sanctions and embargoes.

Winner: Mercell Holding ASA