Ramboll has won the contract to develop the electrical infrastructure for the planned energy island in the Danish North Sea. The contract has a value of DKK 225 m (€ 30 m) over 10 years. The energy island is said to be a key component of powering Europe with renewable energy. By 2033, the island will have a capacity of 3 GW zero carbon electricity, equivalent to approximately half of Denmark’s electricity consumption today. By 2040, this figure will rise to 10 GW.
"Not only will this transformative project be crucial in helping achieve Denmark's national climate targets, it will also serve as an energy hub for Europe,” said Hannes Reuter, managing director for Ramboll's global Energy division. “We believe the energy island can be a showcase for innovative and efficient offshore electrical infrastructure, helping pave the way for the future build-out of renewables, including green hydrogen, at global scale."
Acting as a hub, the energy island will gather the power produced by nearby offshore wind farms and distribute it to Denmark and neighbouring countries. As the client consultant, Ramboll will assist the Danish transmission system operator Energinet in establishing the artificial island’s electricity infrastructure.
The project will be one of the world’s earliest and largest offshore electrical infrastructure projects of this kind. Developing electrical infrastructure on an artificial island, with a final capacity of 10 GW, is a complex task. Fundamentally, it is a matter of finding new and effective solutions to transport huge volumes of green electricity over long distances to many offtakers in different countries and with the lowest associated energy loss. It is believed that the unique solutions developed for the energy island could be replicated in similar offshore wind energy projects and energy hubs in countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
The project is Ramboll’s fifth advisory contract related to the energy islands. It has developed the concept design for modular substations for the North Sea energy island; conducted environmental screenings of the plans for the Bornholm energy island in the Baltic Sea as well as preliminary marine studies the energy island’s environmental impact assessment; and conducted cable route planning on the Bornholm energy island.
Photo credit: Danish Energy Agency
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