Danish Parliament Decides on Energy Island Specifics, State to Own 50.1 Pct

A new political agreement has been reached in the Danish Parliament on the country’s 10 GW North Sea energy island hub, for which the tender will be launched in 2022.

The state will own at least 50.1 per cent of the project and the bidders will have the opportunity to establish extra areas on the island for innovative, green solutions.

The agreement, supplementing the one reached in February, implements part of the decisions from the initial agreement and sets out significant parts of the framework for the concrete preparations for tendering for the energy island in the North Sea. This includes the preparation of tender terms, the construction of the island, as well as conditions for long-term ownership and cooperation on the energy island. 

The agreement notes the previous decision that the energy island will be owned by a public-private partnership, through a company in which the state owns at least 50.1 per cent and one or more private companies own a maximum of 49.9 per cent.

The jointly owned company will manage the island’s areas which will be made available to the users of the island for rent or service payment, including uses related to offshore wind, transmission and innovation. The project company can also perform innovative activities itself, if done on commercial terms.

Furthermore, the agreement emphasizes that the award criteria in the tendering procedure must ensure that the winning bid provides the best quality for the price, as well as the best terms and the lowest prices for offshore wind and Energinet in order to support the cheapest possible expansion of offshore wind on a large scale.

Private parties should also be able to submit proposals for how the island can be accommodated within the framework of the ownership model areas for an innovation zone, the agreement states, the agreement states.

The new decisions also reaffirmed that, in the long term, the energy island in the North Sea must be able to accommodate a total of 10 GW of offshore wind capacity, including the already decided minimum of 3 GW for the starting phase. 

The agreement notes that there are both large-scale benefits and economic risks associated with initially building an island with a capacity of more than 3 GW and invites a professional proposal that can form the basis for a decision at the turn of the year 2021/2022 on different sizes for the island construction. 

According to earlier information, around 200 wind turbines with a combined capacity of 3 GW are expected to be installed in the first phase of the project by 2030.