Denmark explores building artificial islands to support 10 GW of offshore wind

The Danish government has taken the first steps to creating what it called “energy islands”, described as artificially created land mass or platforms in open waters, that could support at least 10 GW of surrounding offshore wind capacity.

The climate and energy ministry said Tuesday it would take a total investment of between DKK 200 billion (USD 29.8bn/EUR 26.8bn) and DKK 300 billion to realise such plans and that the vast majority of the funds would have to come from the private sector.

The Danish government is the first financial contributor to the idea, with a total of DKK 65 million set aside for preliminary studies of the energy island concept, as well as the development of storage and electricity conversion technologies that could be deployed far away from the coast.

The studies will have to demonstrate the feasibility of setting up one or more islands and provide financial calculations before the final decision on them can be made, according to the press statement.

Location scouting will be the first step and the climate and energy ministry intends to conduct the search in the areas in the Kattegat, the Baltic and the North Sea. The ministry said that, apart from launching in-depth technical studies, it would initiate talks with other relevant North Sea countries.

The overall purpose of the project is to ensure that wind power can be used for industries such as shipping, aircraft or transportation. Energy islands can connect and distribute offshore wind power between the North Sea countries, house storage facilities, electrolysis systems and other technologies. They can also contribute to making room for more offshore wind farms to benefit both the Danish and the European energy system and reduce the need for investments in transmission cables and grid reinforcements on land, the climate and energy ministry noted.

(DKK 1.0 = USD 0.15/EUR 0.13)

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