Connecting countries

Together with Belgium, Denmark is one of the first countries to step up the development of energy islands. When everything goes according to plans, two Danish islands should be operational by 2033.

In 2020, a broad majority of the Danish Parliament agreed to initiate the realisation of two energy islands, which will connect and distribute power from surrounding o shore wind farms. The artificial North Sea Energy Island will comprise at least 3GW of o shore wind power in 2033, and a total of at least 10GW o shore wind power with 2040 as the target time frame, with the possibility of establishing total o shore wind power of up to 40GW if the power per km2 is increased. Also, from 2030, the island Bornholm in the Baltic Sea will be the collecting point for 3GW of green power from o shore wind turbines, which will be placed in the Baltic Sea approximately 15km from Bornholm coast.

The tender for the o shore wind farms and the construction of the islands is undertaken by the Danish Energy Agency (DEA), while transmission system operator (TSO) Energinet is responsible for, among other things, the establishment of onshore facilities and transmission cables. “For the realisation >> of the energy islands, Energinet is in charge of the preparatory environmental studies and seabed surveys, the development and operation of the international connections including any possible future links, and of ensuring that renewable energy from the energy islands is connected to and integrated with the onshore energy system”, says Hanne Storm Edlefsen, Vice President for Energy Islands at Energinet. She continues, “Our aim is to have a low price and a high security of supply and therefore we want to have as many as possible renewable energy providers to come on board as they will be the ones who, through their o shore assets and via the islands, will add electricity to the grid. Today, people are talking about the need for being less depending in a country’s energy supply, however in my opinion this is a short-sighted point of view. For realising a fossil-free energy supply, it is essential to have as many as possible countries connected, and the use of energy island will take away many limitations to realise this.”

Ms Storm Edlefsen has been involved in the energy island project from the beginning and has since seen the project evolve. “Since I became part of the project in 2017, we have made a lot of progress. From a feasibility study it developed into a realistic plan that will now result in two energy islands. In fact, one of the first steps we made with energy hubs was in 2016 when the construction started of the Kriegers Flak o shore wind farm. The Kriegers Flak Combined Grid Solution project connects the Danish region of Zealand with the German state of MecklenburgWestern Pomerania via two o shore wind farms, German Baltic 2 and Danish Kriegers Flak. The interconnector allows electricity to be traded in both directions – from Denmark to Germany and from Germany to Denmark. As it is the world’s first project combining grid connections to o shore wind farms with an interconnector between two countries it can well be considered as one of the first steps towards an energy island.” In Belgium, TSO Elia will construct the Princess Elisabeth Energy Island and according to Ms Storm Edlefsen both projects have a lot in common. “There certainly is an overlap between the Belgian and our artificial energy island, not in the least because of the 2GW connection that will be realised. Our collaboration already results in a lot of synergy which is very positive.”

How the artificial island will be constructed has not been decided yet. “Some sort of caissons enable a flexible way of construction, so they look like a suitable solution, possibly complemented with a platform construction”, Ms Storm Edlefsen explains. It is expected that the DEA will soon start the tender process for the artificial island, and so far, the first two consortiums have announced to submit a bid. VindØ is a consortium that consists of Danish pension funds PensionDanmark and PFA, and utility provider Andel. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) acts as the project developer and has signed a partnership agreement with the four contractors ACCIONA, Boskalis, DEME, and MT Højgaard International. A second consortium that has announced to submit a bid for the construction of the island is formed by Ørsted and ATP. They have chosen Aarsle , Bouygues Travaux Publics, and Van Oord as contracting partners.

In parallel with the artificial island runs the energy hub project on the island Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. The Bornholm project is one of Denmark’s largest infrastructure projects ever. It will be used as a test case and various ideas will be tried. “Energinet’s business case for Bornholm Energy Island’s electricity infrastructure makes it possible to get a more accurate idea of the economic implications of the high-voltage substations and power cables to be used to integrate o shore wind into the power grids of multiple countries”, MsStorm-Edlefsen elaborates. “This way it will act as a showcase for future o shore energy hubs. For this project we collaborate with German TSO 50Hertz, which means that the island will also have a grid connection with Germany. Together with 50Hertz we have taken significant steps towards establishing Bornholm Energy Island. Most recently we expanded our existing cooperation with new agreements on, amongst other things, ownership and costs of the power cables and power installations. The power installations and cables are the heart of Bornholm Energy Island, and the new arrangements made must ensure that Bornholm becomes a hot spot for the development of green energy from o