Denmark has a long history as a leading country for offshore wind and established the first offshore wind farm in the world. Furthermore, Denmark is the home of some of the world’s most experienced offshore companies, that have benefited from the unique location for exploitation of offshore wind.
A broad majority of the Danish Parliament decided on June 22 2020 to initiate the construction of two energy islands:
- In the North Sea, an artificial island will serve as a hub for offshore wind farms with a total capacity of 3 GW and potentially up to 10 GW in the future.
- In the Baltic Sea, the Island of Bornholm will be the physical hub for offshore wind farms with a total capacity of 2 GW.
Both energy islands will export power to the mainland of Denmark and neighboring countries.
What are energy islands?
The concept of energy islands covers the definition of an existing island, the construction of an artificial island, or an island based on a platform serving as a hub for electricity generation from surrounding offshore wind farms, that will be connected and distribute power between Denmark and neighboring countries. The energy islands will also allow the connection of various offshore technical equipment for electricity generation, e.g. facilities for energy storage, hydrogen or electrolysis plants, or other technologies for energy conversion (for instance PtX).
A part of the Climate Agreement for Energy and Industry
With the Climate Agreement for Energy and Industry of the 22th of June 2020 the Danish Government (The social democratic party), Denmark’s liberal party, Danish people’s party, Danish social liberal party, The socialist people’s party, The Red-Green Alliance, The conservative people’s party, Liberal Alliance and The Alternative decided, that Denmark will become the first country in the world to begin the construction of two energy island with a total capacity of 5 GW offshore wind. The energy islands will be the beginning of a new era for future development of Danish offshore wind and the islands are scheduled for completion by 2030. One of the islands will be located in the North Sea with a capacity of 3 GW, and this island will be extended in stages as the construction of new international connections to neighboring countries are developed, and the demand of power will increase. In the future, the island can be further scaled up to 10 GW offshore wind. The other energy island will be established on the current island of Bornholm with a capacity of 2 GW. It is a prerequisite for the projects that the energy islands are profitable.
Read the overview of the Climate Agreement for Energy and Industry of June 22 2020