Første skib på vej mod kommende energiøer

Energy Islands in Denmark – nature and the environment

The establishment of the future energy islands must take place with the greatest possible respect for nature and the environment. 

Follow the activities as we progress.

Preliminary studies of nature and enviroment

Energinet has to investigate the seabed and study marine wildlife and the environment in the areas where the energy islands will be located so they are are established with as little impact on its surroundings as possible.

Energinet has been given the task of investigating the areas that have been selected for the energy islands in Denmark. The preliminary studies include several different methods for screening the seabed as well as environmental studies on land, where the impact on wildlife and nature in the areas are investigated.

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The North Sea investigated for effects from the world's largest naval battle

Part of the battle of Jutland took place very close to the area that Energinet is investigating in connection to the energy island in the North Sea.

Click here to learn more about the battle of Jutland and listen to Gert Normann Andersen, Director at Sea War Museum Jutland in Thyborøn, as he talks about the hunt for history.

In search of locations for 70-metre deep holes

Two special-purpose vessels have scanned a vast area of the North Sea to provide accurate imaging of the seabed – and what lies beneath it.

The soil layers below the seabed have been mapped using seismic equipment. Seismic equipment transmits sound waves that are ‘stopped’ by soil layers such as boulder clay, rocky layers or soil layers containing gas. 

Read more about the geophysical investigations here. 

The vessels surveyed:

  • What the seabed consists of – solid ground, soft ground, rocky ground?

  • Whether the seabed is stable – sand migrations or mobile seabed?

  • Whether the seabed is already home to other things – shipwrecks, naval mines, existing pipelines, animal habitats? 

Energy islands taking flora, fauna and bats into consideration

Energinet collects information from the preliminary studies which will form the basis for the future work of designing and constructing energy islands, offshore wind farms and the intervening infrastructure.

Read more here. 

Facts

  • Factors will be investigated separately for the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, as the conditions are different.
  • The seabed and soil layers has been examined, with the aim of describing how foundations for wind turbines and the like can be established with minimal environmental impact.

First ship to the energy island

Watch the first ship as it set out to conduct thorough investigations of the seabed.