A simulation of Denmark’s clean energy island, due to be completed by 2033. Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy, and Utilities
Denmark has approved a plan to build an artificial island 50 miles offshore in the North Sea to act as a clean energy hub that produces and stores wind energy , several news outlets reported. The island, equal in size to 18 football fields, will be linked to Danish offshore wind turbines to supply power to 3 million households, as well as to generate green hydrogen for use in shipping, aviation, and industry.
The $34 billion project will have an initial capacity of 3 gigawatts (GW) — eventually growing to 10 GW — and is expected to be operational in 2033. The facility will be equipped with high sea walls on three sides, as well as a dock for service vessels. The Danish government will fund 51 percent of the island, with the private sector paying for the rest, The Guardian reported. The country is also exploring plans to build another artificial clean energy island in the Baltic Sea.
“This is truly a great moment for Denmark and for the global green transition,” Energy Minister Dan Jorgensen said at a press event, according to Reuters. “(The island) will make a big contribution to the realization of the enormous potential for European offshore wind,” he said.
The approval of the artificial island comes just months after Denmark announced it would halt its search for oil and gas in the North Sea, and is part of the country’s legally binding target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent below 1990s levels by 2030. It also coincides with a newly unveiled plan by the European Union to rely almost entirely on renewable energy within a decade and increase its offshore wind energy capacity 25-fold, Reuters reported.
