Denmark signs second agreement for offshore wind energy hub

The agreement was signed by Minister Wiebes and Denmark’s Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities, Dan Jørgensen, who signed a similar agreement with Germany this week.

In a statement, the Minister said both countries had accepted the need for an additional memorandum of understanding (MoU) on co-operation on offshore energy infrastructure, following an initial MoU on co-operation in the energy transition signed on 19 June 2020.

The objective of the new MoU is to initiate co-operation on the planning of one or more offshore energy hubs (energy islands) with one or more interconnectors for mutual benefit of the two countries. This would improve security of supply, bring diversification of energy sources, and facilitate energy system integration of wind power across sectors, such as transport and industry, the statement said.

Co-operation under the MoU will be facilitated through the operators of the national power and gas systems in the two countries. Transmission system operators (TSOs) will be responsible for the analyses to be carried out, referring regularly to relevant ministries and agencies. Co-operation between the TSOs will take place under the terms of the North Sea Wind Power Hub programme.

The statement said the TSOs should consider co-operation in the form of a joint working group established by the ministries and energy authorities in Denmark and the Netherlands.

This working group will be tasked with developing a joint analysis that clarifies the technical and economic aspects of joint energy hubs, such as technology, capacity, connection points, landfalls, internal grid reinforcements, ownership, financing, socio-economic implications and an initial high-level environmental impact assessment.

The Ministers have called for the preparation of a joint recommendation from the working group by H2 2021 on whether or not to continue with the next phase towards the realisation of a project.

This recommendation would describe the potential design and configuration of the energy hubs(s) and make recommendations about their further design and development with a view towards realisation in 2030 or as soon as possible thereafter.