The largest offshore wind farm in Scandinavia is officially open. In a ceremony Thursday, state-owned Swedish energy firm Vattenfall inaugurated the Horns Rev 3 facility, which is located in the North Sea, off Denmark's west coast.

Horns Rev 3 consists of 49 turbines which stand 187 meters tall. If the turbines' foundations are taken into account, they each weigh nearly 1,500 tonnes.

The facility has a capacity of 407 megawatts (MW), which Vattenfall says is enough to cover the yearly electricity consumption of around 425,000 Danish homes.



The first foundations for Horns Rev 3 were laid in October 2017, and it began to send electricity to consumers at the end of 2018.

"The wind farm is a significant contribution to Vattenfall's production portfolio and takes us one step further in our ambition to enable a fossil-free living within one generation," Vattenfall CEO Magnus Hall said in a statement Thursday.



Attendees at the inauguration included Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and the Crown Prince of Denmark.



As a whole, Europe is a major player in the offshore wind sector. According to industry body WindEurope, it is home to 106 offshore wind farms across 11 countries, with 4,811 wind turbines connected to the grid.



Europe also boasts the world's largest operational offshore facility, the Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm.

Located in the Irish Sea, the Walney Extension has a capacity of 659 megawatts and is capable of powering nearly 600,000 homes in the U.K, according to Danish energy business Orsted.