ENERGY ISLANDS IN DENMARK
Denmark is investigating the possibility of establishing two energy islands, marking the beginning of a new era for large-scale offshore wind power.
ACCELERATED EXPANSION OF OFFSHORE WIND POWER
The Danish Folketing has decided to contruct two energy islands in Denmark – in the North Sea and in the Baltic Sea. The energy island on Bornholm will have a capacity of 3 GW with the possibility of 800 MW overplanting, while the one in the North Sea is expected to have a capacity of 3 GW at the start 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. Energinet has already joined forces with Germany's TSO, 50Hertz, in the Bornholm Energy Island project.
Various construction alternatives: The underlying structure is not decisive for the core function of the energy islands. The conversion of alternating current from large scale offshore wind power and the distribution of electricity across long distances may be implemented from platforms, artificial islands or, like on Bornholm, from an existing island. Platforms have shown to be the most economic and adaptable solution for Denmark in the North Sea
Hydrogen and green fuels: Excess green electricity from the Energy Islands can be converted into hydrogen and climate-neutral fuels (known as Power-to-X), which can be used in the decarbonisation of airplanes, ships, and heavy industry.
ENERGINET’S ROLE
Preliminary studies: Energinet is responsible for carrying out the preparatory environmental studies and seabed surveys.
International connections: Energinet is responsible for developing and operating international connections, including any possible future links via the two energy islands.
System operation: Energinet is responsible for ensuring that renewable energy from the energy islands is connected to and integrated with the onshore energy system.
Energy islands - green energy to more countries
Until now, each country in Europe has developed offshore wind separately. With the energy islands, things are changing.
In the video Energinet's Hanne Storm Edlefsen explains the complexity of the project