In June 2020, the Danish Folketing decided to begin preparations for the construction of two energy islands in Denmark – in the North Sea and in the Baltic Sea. The energy island on Bornholm will have a capacity of 2 GW, while the one in the North Sea will have a capacity of 3 GW in 2030, and 10 GW in the longer term.
One island – several connections: Energy islands can pool the power from multiple offshore wind farms and feed this directly to several countries. This represents a change from the previous philosophy of building isolated offshore wind farms with a power connection to one country only.
Various construction alternatives: Depending on the local conditions, an artificial energy island far out to sea could be constructed as a sand island, steel platforms, or a large concrete container that is lowered into place and filled with stone material.
However, the energy island in the Baltic Sea will make use of the existing island of Bornholm as the site for the power hub.
What is the North Sea Wind Power Hub? Since 2017, Energinet and the North Sea Wind Power Hub international consortium have been investigating and developing the idea of energy islands, to the point that these are now a realistic model for the accelerated and increased expansion of offshore wind power in the North Sea.