50Hertz Opens Environmental Consultancy Tender for Danish Part of Bornholm Energy Island Interconnection

December 18, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

Transmission system operator (TSO) 50Hertz has launched a tender for environmental engineering consultancy services for the interconnection between Denmark and Germany, part of Bornholm Energy Island in the Baltic Sea.

The TSO is looking to contract an environmental consultancy provider to prepare the Planning Consent and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), where required, for Bornholm Energy Island’s interconnector. The work under this tender is being procured solely for the part of the project in Danish waters, up to the Danish-German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) border, and Danish onshore territory, up to but not including the converter station on the island of Bornholm.

The tender is open until 23 January 2025 and, according to available information, is valued at more than EUR 4 million.

The Danish government approved the development of Bornholm Energy Island in 2020. The following year, the government and the Danish TSO Energinet started exploring increasing the initially planned capacity of 2 GW for the island to 3 GW.

In 2022, the government and Danish political parties signed an agreement on expanding the planned offshore wind capacity to 3 GW, and Denmark and Germany entered into an agreement to jointly build a subsea connection that will run from the energy island to Germany.

Last year, German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Robert Habeck, and Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities, Lars Aagaard, signed an agreement for Bornholm Energy Island. This was the first legally binding cooperation agreement in Europe on a joint offshore energy project under the EU Renewable Energy Directive.

The Danish government last year secured the framework for offshore wind tenders, allowing the so-called “overplanting” option which could bring 3.8 GW of offshore wind capacity in the Bornholm Energy Island zone.

In May this year, the Danish Energy Agency (DEA) revealed its Plan for Program Bornholm Energy Island, outlining the framework for the future energy island at Bornholm and the adjacent coastal areas.

The project is planned to consist of an offshore wind farm south of Bornholm with a 3.8 GW capacity as well as high-voltage installations on Bornholm and in Zealand. The plan sets the overall framework for future construction projects for Bornholm Energy Island, taking into consideration the environmental issues and planning restrictions in the area, such as bird protection areas, defence areas, and ship traffic routes.