COPENHAGEN/OSLO, July 12 (Reuters) – The Danish Energy Agency has granted Swedish utility Vattenfall (VATN.UL) a licence to produce electricity from two offshore wind farms on Denmark’s west coast, it said on Wednesday.

Vattenfall has said previously it aimed to start production from the two wind farms, Vesterhav Syd and Vesterhav Nord with a combined capacity of 344 megawatts (MW), by the end of 2023.

The agency said Siemens Gamesa would supply the 8.4 MW turbines, with 20 destined for Vesterhav Syd and 21 for Vesterhav Nord.

Siemens Energy shocked the wind sector in late June when it warned of faulty components and possible design faults in its onshore wind turbines, wiping a third off its market value.

Major wind power developers have however said they have not yet observed major issues.

The construction of first turbine at Vesterhav Syd has been completed today, said project director Mathilde Lindhardt Damsgaard.

Vattenfall still needs to complete electrical connections, testing and commissioning as well as burying the cables onshore, she added.

“So best case, first power to grid is mid-August,” Damsgaard said.

The Danish Energy Agency said in its statement that the licence was valid 25 years from when the first electricity is fed into the Danish power grid.

Production from the wind farms will be enough to cover the annual consumption of 375,000 households, it said.

Denmark currently has 15 offshore wind farms with a combined capacity of 2,298 MW in operation, according to the agency.

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