Bornholm will be Denmark’s first natural energy island

Germany will partner in setting up the hub, connecting it to its grid as a benefit

The Danish Parliament has decided, by a broad majority, to drastically expand the electricity-producing capacity of one of its two planned energy islands – Bornholm. Unlike the artificial island that is planned to float on the seas, Bornholm is an actual populated island, which will be converted into a large energy-producing hub. That will happen with the installation of offshore wind turbines and the construction of an on-land plant.

The new planned capacity for the Bornholm Energy Island (Energiø Bornholm) goes up from 2GW to 3GW, meaning that the Nordic country’s overall offshore wind electric production will more than double (currently it is 2.3 GW). The idea started taking shape through an exploration phase already last year before the current energy concerns sweeping over Europe, but now its realization can’t come soon enough given the crisis context.

The Bornholm Energy Island is expected to be ready to feed the grid somewhere in 2030, and the artificial island will be ready by 2033.

Trans-national energy cooperation

Bornholm is an outlying island and Denmark’s easternmost territory, located in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Germany. It is expected that the tender framework related to the Energy Island will be completed by the end of 2022. Wind turbines will be placed at distances of between 15 and 45 kilometres from the shore of the island.

The project is actually an equal-part partnership between Denmark and Germany, which is a new type of cooperation, where the costs and benefits of the energy island will be equally distributed between both parties.

“The cross-border energy cooperation project with Denmark is a flagship project. The green power from “Bornholm Energy Island” will supplement national power generation and reduce our dependence on fossil energy imports. With such projects among European partners we achieve two key goals at the same time: European energy security and climate neutrality,” stated on the occasion Robert Habeck, Germany’s Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

Denmark and Germany have also entered into an agreement on the establishment of a 470-km subsea cable that will run from Bornholm to Germany, enabling the offshore wind power to be sent directly from the energy island to the German electricity grid and on to the rest of Europe.

The green electricity will power up to 4.5 million Danish and German homes, and it will also be used in the production of green hydrogen.