Denmark approves the world's first "Energy Island" project

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By Matthew Griffin Earth and Energy 5th August 2021

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Denmark, the nation that built the world’s first offshore wind farm, has agreed to an ambitious plan for another global first – a giant energy island in the North Sea which could eventually be capable of supplying energy to a history-making 10 million homes. The project will also create a critical boost to the world’s offshore wind capacity and serve as a model for the rest of the world.

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The first “hub and spoke” energy scheme will involve building an island 80 kilometres off the Danish coastline to act as the transmission centre for hundreds of wind turbines surrounding it, and at $34 billion, it’s the largest construction project in Danish history. The project is also a potential blueprint for other coastal nations to develop their own green energy sources.

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“It’s in Danish waters, yes, but it could conceptually be in any other country,” said Peter Larsen of the North Sea Wind Power Hub Programme.

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The initial phase for the artificial island is around the size of 18 soccer pitches. Initially, the North Sea hub will be capable of producing 3 gigawatts of electricity, but the plan is to scale up to 10 gigawatts, which is nearly one-and-a-half times Denmark’s current needs as a country.

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As well as supplying other European countries with electricity, the goal is to use the new offshore island to produce green hydrogen from seawater, which can also be exported. Large batteries on the island, which will act as grid scale storage, will store surplus electricity for use when electricity demand is high.

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Although the Danish government will own a majority stake, private companies will be invited to join a public-private partnership to build the project. Power will be supplied by as many as 600 giant wind turbines, each standing up to 260 metres tall.

Such efforts are key given new climate-first commitments from countries around the world. As Reuters has reported, the European Union intends to depend entirely on renewable energy by 2031, increasing its energy capacity 25-fold by 2050.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

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