Highlights :
- The two energy islands will facilitate efficient routing of power generated from the offshore wind farms to Denmark and other European countries.
- First energy island will come up in the North Sea and the second in the Baltic Sea.
Denmark is mulling to build two energy islands that can supply renewable energy produced offshore sources to the domestic market of Denmark and other countries of Europe. Minister of Climate, Energy, and Utilities of Denmark, Dan Jorgensen has recently said that Denmark and the rest of Europe must get rid of Russian fossil and for this, Denmark is massively increasing renewable energy projects both on land and at sea.
The idea behind creating energy islands is that they will become hubs that will collect power from offshore wind farms of Denmark that are built in the vicinity. The renewable energy then will be distributed to the Denmark grid and to other countries. The energy islands will facilitate route energy from large wind farm areas to the regions that need the energy. The system will also lead to greater energy efficiency.
Denmark will construct the first island in the North Sea that will have an initial serving facility of 3GW for the offshore wind turbines. The capacity will be enhanced to 10GW. The wind farms will also have larger turbines than the current ones.
The second Denmark energy island will come up in Bornholm islands situated in the Baltic Sea that will have a serving capacity of 2GW and the wind farms will be situated 20km from the island. Denmark has been a frontrunner in wind power technology and wind energy constitutes about 50 per cent in the energy basket. The country still has considerable energy coming from fossil fuels imported from Russia.
Energinet –transmission network operator of Denmark – has recently commissioned preliminary studies on the seabed for the development of energy islands in and around Bornholm and the North Sea. The objective behind the studies is to ensure that wind turbines and energy islands are created in areas where construction is easy and the environmental impact is minimal.