Denmark to construct a 10GW wind farm in an artificial island

Denmark plans to build the first artificial island that will serve as a clean energy generator.

The artificial island is planned to be constructed 80 kilometers away from Denmark’s west coast and will cover a massive area of 120 thousand m² (with future plans to increase its total area to 360 thousand m²). The exact position of the island has not been decided yet. “This is truly a great moment for Denmark and for the global green transition,” Dan Jørgensen, Denmark’s climate minister, stated.

The governmental decision stated that 51% of the project will be owned by the state while the rest 49% will be dedicated to private initiatives.

On the island, a wind farm with at least 200 huge wind turbines will be established at a cost that is estimated to reach $34 billion. The endeavor is considered the biggest project in the history of Denmark. The island will also provide green hydrogen to many industries such as shipping, aviation or heavy transport.

Nevertheless, the generated power will not be entirely delivered to Denmark but more, neighboring countries may be provided with clean energy. Those countries have not been announced yet but, it is probable that Germany, UK and Netherlands could be benefitted.

The wind farm will have an initial capacity of 3GW that can eventually reach 10GW. The island could be completed by 2030 but, many argue that this completion date is not feasible and suggest that 2033 is a more realistic approach. However, the Danish government plans to do everything they can to accomplish the project by 2030 because they aim at reaching their target gas emissions reduction (70%) by that year due to a commitment made in 1990. The construction of the island is set to start by 2026.

The project is part of a great endeavor brought by the European Commission that aims at expanding the offshore wind capacity of the European Union to 300GW by 2050.

It is estimated that the generated power will initially provide electricity for 3 million residences in Denmark (and additional for the other countries) with a target of expanding the total output so that it can deliver power to 10 million houses (which exceeds the total needs of Denmark so neighboring countries will benefit more).

The artificial island will be protected from the North Sea's waves via 3 high walls that will be erected at each side while the 4^th side will be occupied by a specially designed dock.

Denmark is under a long-term commitment regarding its reduction of greenhouse gasses. Those include becoming carbon neutral by 2050. In 2020, the country announced that oil and gas extractions in the North Sea will be completely halted by 2050. This is a radical shift when considering that Denmark extracts 103,000 barrels of oil daily (2019 data, BP).

Denmark has also planned to establish a wind farm in Bornholm Island, Baltic Sea, with an estimated energy output of 2GW.

Sources: BBC Guardian Forbes DW