Denmark: As two OWFs from 2018 Energy Agreement move forward, third is now part of much bigger plans

Of the three offshore wind farms that Denmark decided to tender as of this year in its Energy Agreement from 2018, the last one planned to be offered for development has recently been added to the 5 GW offshore energy islands plan in a new Energy Agreement in 2020. The two energy islands are expected be built before 2030.

On 27 June 2018, Danish parliament unanimously voted in favour of the then new energy agreement, which included building three new offshore wind farms by 2030 with a total capacity of at least 2,400 MW.

Now, two years later, Denmark has moved forward with tendering the first two offshore wind farms from the 2018 Energy Agreement, which are expected to be commissioned between 2024 and 2027.

The third project planned two years ago has now become a part of more ambitious targets set out in the country’s 2020 Energy Agreement approved this summer.

Denmark, the home of the world’s first offshore wind farm – Vindeby, which was decommissioned in 2017 – already has several offshore wind farms in operation, approved or under construction, including the 406.7 MW Horns Rev 3, the 605 MW Kriegers Flak, and the Vesterhav Syd and Vesterhav Nord nearshore wind farms.

By 2027, Thor and Hesselø will be commissioned and will add more capacity to the country’s offshore wind portfolio.

The process for the Thor tender has already been kicked off in September. For Hesselø, the tendering procedure will start in 2021, with offshore survey now underway. The wind farm was initially planned for commissioning in 2028, but the Danish government has recently given the go-ahead for its operation to start the same year as the Thor project.

The government approved earlier commissioning of Hesselø, the second offshore wind farm announced in 2018, in the new energy agreement, and added the plans for the third planned offshore wind farm to now much larger ambitions that revolve around energy islands.

At the end of last year, the country commenced studies to find possible locations for energy islands supporting at least 10 GW of offshore wind capacity and, in June this year, issued an offshore wind map identifying the zones where the wind farms which would be connected to the energy islands could be developed.

Throughout the period until 2022, Denmark will allocate funds for preliminary studies needed to develop the energy islands.

Just before the summer break, the country’s new energy agreement gathered broad political support in the Danish parliament, setting the path for next-generation infrastructure to be built in Denmark’s North and Baltic Sea waters.

By 2030, two energy islands are planned to be built and bring 5 GW of offshore wind capacity: 2 GW at Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and 3 GW with an artificial island in the North Sea. These 5 GW will also comprise the capacity initially planned for the third offshore wind farm from the 2018 Energy Agreement.

It is most likely that the North Sea artificial island would also be connected to the Netherlands, while Bornholm in the Baltic Sea would have a link to Poland.

While details on the tendering process for the new offshore wind and energy island infrastructure are not yet finalised, it is known that the island in the North Sea will initially provide 3 GW.

In the long-term, the Danish government plans that both energy islands are used for Power-to-X, as well, where renewable energy from the islands would be used to power the production of green hydrogen, which can further be processed into fuels, allowing the reduction of greenhouse gases.

The plans will contribute to the overall aim of enabling a greenhouse gas reduction of 2 million tonnes by 2030, together with other moves agreed in this year’s Energy Agreement such as investment into green heat, CO₂ capture, and increasing energy efficiency.