UNITED KINGDOM. London: The Danish government has reached an agreement for the construction of the world’s first energy island, which will supply power to three million European households.
The energy produced and stored will be used in aviation as well as shipping, industry, and heavy transport. The island will serve as a hub to gather and store the energy produced by 200 giant offshore wind turbines.
The island will be located 80 kilometers from the shore of Jutland’s peninsula and will measure around 120,000sqm — the size of 18 football pitches.
Energy Island Construction
Dan Jørgensen, Denmark’s Climate Minister, shared on Twitter a 3D video of what the impressive construction would look like.
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“Denmark has decided to construct the world’s first wind energy hub as an artificial island in the North Sea #dkgreen,” Jørgensen tweeted.
The project will cost around 210bn kroner (around £24bn), and, as reported by BBC, it’s “the biggest construction project in Danish history.” The government will hold the majority of the island, with the private sector owning the remainder.
In an interview with the BBC, Prof Jacob Ostergaard of the Technical University of Denmark suggested that the U.K., Germany, and the Netherlands could also benefit from it.
The world’s first energy island is expected to be up and running by 2033.
Denmark stopped new oil and gas exploration
With Denmark’s Climate Act, the country has committed to an ambitious plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 70% by 2030. It also aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, closing down the country’s oil industry for good.
Therefore, in December last year, the government has agreed to end all new oil and gas explorations in the North Sea — only the companies with existing licenses will be able to continue.
Denmark giving green light to the energy island comes after the European Union unveiled its plan to increase Europe’s offshore wind capacity from its current level of 12 GW to at least 60 GW by 2030 and to 300 GW by 2050.
In the statement, the EU highlighted that offshore wind “produces clean electricity that competes with, and sometimes is cheaper than, existing fossil fuel-based technology.”
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