Denmark rolls out 18 GW offshore wind map

Denmark has mapped out areas in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea suitable for the development of up to 18 GW of offshore wind capacity.

COWI has, on behalf of the Danish Energy Agency, conducted ”a fine screening” of areas in Danish territorial waters to investigate the possibility of establishing both standalone offshore wind farms as well as several continuous offshore wind farms connected to the proposed energy islands in the North Sea and on the Bornholm Island in the Baltic Sea.

The areas marked in green were identified as suitable to accommodate standalone offshore wind farms. Those areas are North Sea I, located south of the future Thor offshore wind farm, Hesselø, and Kriegers Flak North and South.

North Sea I covers an area of 3,174 km2 and can accommodate three 1 GW offshore wind farms, the study shows.

The Hesselø area covers 247 km2 and is suitable for the development of one 1 GW wind farm.

Kriegers Flak North and Kriegers Flak South cover a combined area of 173 km2 and can accommodate one wind farm each with a combined capacity of 1 GW.

The study was carried out under the assumption that the wind farms would feature wind turbines with an individual capacity of 15 MW.

The blue areas, which are further offshore, were identified as suitable for wind farms that would connect to the energy islands.

These are North Sea II and North Sea III, North Sea II+III West, and Bornholm I and II.

The areas cover 4,352 km2 and can accommodate up to 13 GW of offshore wind capacity.

The North Sea II + III, and the North Sea II+III West areas are suitable for the development of 10 GW of offshore wind capacity, with three 1 GW wind farms to be developed in the first stage.

Bornholm I and II could see between 2 GW and 3 GW of capacity developed within the areas.

The purpose of the fine screening was to confirm that it is practically possible to establish offshore wind farms in the specified areas and to provide financial calculations for comparing the locations.

Overall, the screening shows that it is possible to establish offshore wind farms in all the screened areas. Thus, all of the screened areas are recommended for the development of offshore wind, the Danish Energy Agency said.

However, it is recommended that in sub-areas of Bornholm and Kriegers Flak, a more detailed analysis of the impact on selected bird species, cables, pipelines, and existing sea routes, is carried out.

The results from the fine screening will form part of the further preparatory work on the development of offshore wind in Denmark, including contributing to informing the basis for making a decision on closer placement.