SONFOR Takes Majority Control of Lillebaelt Syd and Starts Partner Hunt
TotalEnergies is leaving a 165 MW project that already holds its permit and grid agreement.
Danish utility SONFOR has taken majority control of the 165 MW Lillebaelt Syd offshore wind project after TotalEnergies decided to withdraw, and has begun looking for a new operating partner.
Approval to acquire the majority stake in project company Lillebaelt Vind came through on 21 August. European Energy, which joined the development in 2022, remains a minority shareholder. TotalEnergies had held 72.25% of the project since entering in 2024 and decided earlier this summer to pull out as part of a wider review of its Danish wind portfolio. It is also exiting the Jammerland Bugt project, where European Energy likewise holds a minority position.
SONFOR said the scheme "remains relevant to electricity supply security and local development in the Sonderborg area", while acknowledging that market conditions for offshore wind have changed significantly. The coming months will be used to assess both potential partners and the project's business case, with that process expected to conclude by the end of June 2027.
The development is unusually far advanced for a project changing hands. Lillebaelt Syd has completed its environmental investigations, holds an establishment permit and has secured a grid connection agreement. The layout puts eleven turbines of 15 MW apiece on the site, 165 MW installed, with output estimated at some 650 GWh a year and a start of operations currently targeted for 2029 or 2030.
Its origins are local. The scheme began as a community wind initiative in 2011 and was taken over by SONFOR from Sonderborg Municipality in 2020, with a mandate to develop it and find partners. European Energy came in two years later, TotalEnergies two years after that.
For the marine contracting market the timing of the partner search matters more than the ownership split. A permitted 165 MW project with grid access represents installation work for offshore vessels at the end of the decade: foundation installation, cable lay and turbine erection, plus survey and support tonnage through the construction window. That work cannot be tendered until the equity structure is settled and a final investment decision follows.
The June 2027 deadline therefore sets the earliest realistic point at which a Lillebaelt Syd construction programme can begin taking shape, against a 2029 to 2030 operational target that leaves limited slack.
