Denmark has fired the starting pistol on the tender for its largest offshore wind farm so far, the up-to-1GW Thor project in the North Sea.

The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) on Friday published the contract notice and tender material for the process, which is due to end in December 2021 when a winner is named to build Thor at an estimated cost of DKr15.5bn ($2.4bn)

An initial pre-qualification phase for the tender will end in mid-January next year, said the DEA, which runs the process for the Danish government.

The auction will operate under a UK-style two-sided contract-for-difference (CfD) system, and in a first for a Danish tender will include provision of the offshore grid connection.