SMØRUM, DENMARK–The Oticon Foundation, together with the parent company of the Danish toy maker Lego, has invested 675 million Euros, about $900 million, in the construction of a giant new wind farm off the German coast in the North Sea.
Within a few years, the foundation expects its stake in the wind farm to produce over five times as much energy as Oticon itself consumes worldwide.
The Oticon Foundation is the main shareholder of William Demant Holding, parent company of the hearing aid company Oticon A/S as well as several other companies that make hearing care products.
Søren Nielsen, president of Oticon A/S, said that as “a global company, we wish to assume our share of responsibility for solving the energy challenges of the future. We are therefore very pleased that as of 2015, we will help produce far more energy from wind than our total global consumption of power.”
The wind farm consists of 77 wind turbines of 3.6 megawatts each with a rotor span of 120 meters. When it is finished in 2015, it will generate carbon dioxide-free energy matching the consumption of about 285,000 households.
Together, the Oticon Foundation and Kirkbi, which owns the company famous for its Lego building bricks, have acquired 50% of the energy wind project from Dong Energy. Dong, Denmark’s largest energy company, is owned primarily by the Danish government. It will operate and maintain the wind farm under a 15-year contract signed with the two companies.
