A consortium consisting of two of the largest Danish pension companies and a well-known energy company says it is ready to finance and operate a 10-GW energy island in the North Sea
The energy island – called VindØ – would, they claim, have a capacity “equivalent to 25 traditional offshore windfarms.” The partners in the project anticipate the North Sea island would also host power-to-gas technology, such as production of green hydrogen using electricity from wind power.
The partners describe the energy island plan as “visionary” and as having significant added-value potential. “Design and construction of VindØ is a large and demanding project but can be implemented with existing technology,” they said.
The consortium said it can fulfil the Danish Government’s recently announced ambition to build energy islands in the North Sea and can do so entirely without government funding.
Earlier this week, the Danish Government said it wanted to build two energy islands, one in the North Sea and one in the Baltic. It said the North Sea energy island would be a new man-made project; that in the Baltic will be based on the island of Bornholm.
PensionDanmark, PFA and energy company SEAS-NVE are ready to finance VindØ with an initial Dkr400M (US$58M) to develop the project. They describe it as “an innovative concept that fundamentally changes our approach to exploiting offshore wind.”
They envisage that VindØ would be constructed from concrete approximately 100 km out into the North Sea. State-owned Energinet – which owns the energy infrastructure in Denmark – would install export cables to transmit the power ashore.
PensionDanmark chief executive Torben Möger Pedersen said, “An energy island in the North Sea is an important part of an economically sound expansion of offshore wind capacity.”
He said the concept also has significant export potential to parts of the world where the expansion of offshore wind will take place in coming decades. “Experience from the North Sea could be disseminated to the rest of the world,” Mr Pedersen said.
PFA Pension group investment director says Kasper Ahrndt Lorenzen said, “Denmark is a pioneer in driving the green transition. It requires significant investments to meet the ambitious goals the government has set.
“An energy island in the North Sea will add even more momentum to the green transition, while at the same time creating value for Denmark’s pension savers. That is why we, together with the other members of the consortium, are prepared to participate in this historic project.”
The partners are being assisted in the project by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, one of the world’s leading green infrastructure investment companies with significant experience from major offshore projects worldwide.
Riviera will host a week of free to attend 45-minute webinars focused on offshore wind commencing 8 June. Register your interest now
© 2023 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.