Denmark Expands Scope of Artificial Energy Island

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Hot on the heels of announcing its largest-ever offshore wind tender, Denmark has released an update for its ambitious Bornholm artificial energy island.

The Danish Energy Agency has published its plan for the Bornholm Energy Island--essentially a power hub--which will have a capacity of up to 3.8 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind located to its south, supported by high-voltage installations on Bornholm and Zealand. Alone, the island project will double Denmark's offshore wind capacity and is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the country. The island will be located 80 kilometers from the Jutland coast with substations designed to connect to multiple windfarms. It is a joint operation between Denmark and Germany to create a power hub in the sea that will transfer power from a number of windfarms to both countries via high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cables. The original plan was for 2 GW, but this was revised upwards to 3 GW, with an additional 800 MW "overplanting" agreed by the Danish government last year. In recent weeks, Denmark announced an offshore wind tender seeking at least 6 GW and potentially up to 10 GW of new offshore capacity. For additional information, see May 8, 2024, article - European Offshore Wind Tenders Face Choppy Seas.

"The energy island will play an important role in the phasing out of fossil energy sources," the Agency stated. "Based on a strategic environmental assessment of the plan and consultation responses received, the Danish Energy Agency has assessed that it is possible to adopt the Plan for Program Bornholm Energy Island. It has adjusted the planning areas to accommodate environmental issues and planning restrictions in the area, such as bird protection areas, defense areas and ship traffic routes." The Energy Island will involve the production of green energy "on a scale that has not been seen in Denmark so far". Industrial Info is tracking nine Danish offshore wind projects worth a potential US$15 billion in investment. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the reports.

The two key companies behind getting it done are the Danish and German transmission system operators (TSOs) Energinet (Erritsø, Denmark) and 50Hertz (Berlin, Germany). At the end of last year, both companies started the tendering process for key technologies, including cabling and substations. Contracts are expected to be concluded this summer. Another Danish energy island is also planned for the North Sea, but for "economic reasons" the government decided to postpone its decision to invite tenders for the project last year. Energinet has been tasked to see whether the North Sea Energy Island should be established on a foundation made up of several large platforms, as the original artificial island plan was proving far too costly. "The coming analyses will inform us whether a platform solution may sufficiently reduce the State's risk and costs," said Hanne Storm Edlefsen, vice president, Energy Islands, Energinet. "We are far from starting the analyses from scratch. Much of the work we have done so far can be used directly as we are now zooming in on the technical and economic feasibility of the platform solution."

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