Climate, Energy, and Utilities Minister Lars Aagaard (Moderate Party) has initiated discussions with Germany regarding co-financing an energy island in the North Sea—a project that has been put on hold. If the partnership is successful, the energy island is not expected to be operational until 2036, which indicates an additional delay of three years.
“We are now collaborating with Germany to further develop the idea of an energy island. We will explore whether both positive socioeconomic and operational economics can be achieved in the project,” stated Lars Aagaard.
The first step will involve investigating the economic aspects of the project, a process expected to take about one year. The planned energy island, to be located 80-100 kilometers off the west coast of Jutland, was politically decided in 2020. However, in 2023, the project was delayed due to high estimated costs exceeding 50 billion Danish kroner (approximately 7.5 billion USD). At that time, the project was deemed non-profitable.
Despite the project’s pause, the government has remained committed to its ambitions of establishing an energy island in the North Sea. Energy islands are envisioned as hubs for collecting and distributing electricity from offshore wind turbines that are located far from the coast.
Kristan Jensen, CEO of Green Power Denmark, views the project’s future optimistically: “The North Sea energy island is such a large and expensive project that it requires cooperation between several European countries. It is a positive sign that Germany is expressing interest in discussing the financing of the cable connection.”