Contract awarded for subsea cables to Danish energy island

 Swedish firm NKT HV Cables will install the cables.

Bornholm Energy Island will produce 3GW of electricity from two wind farm areas near Rønne Banke, with turbines of up to 350 metres high installed about 15km from the coast.

Jointly developed by 50Hertz and Energinet will ‘serve as a model for further interconnections in the North and Baltic Seas’, the project leaders say.

“The aim is to establish as many turbines as possible at once. On the one hand, it provides the best possible economy in the project. And on the other hand, you avoid potentially having to cause nuisance several times to nature, the environment and the local population by establishing the entire offshore wind farm at once.

“An energy island makes it possible to establish large wind farms at sea far from the coast – out where it is windiest. On Bornholm, a physical plant will be established on the island that can transform and distribute the electricity. After that, green electricity can be sent from Bornholm to millions of consumers in Denmark and Germany.”

Bornholm Island, which was kicked off in 2020, is one of two energy islands that Denmark is building to add power capacity to the grid.

The other, Jutland, will be about 100km off the western coast of Jutland. This is also a 3GW hub that can be expanded to 10GW.

This one is estimated at costing around €28 billion. It will include a harbour, service facilities and will also be linked to neighbouring countries as well as Denmark.

Belgian is making strides towards its own energy island – the Princess Elisabeth island – and has just begun its largest unexploded ordnance clearance project to date to clear the way for subsea cable installation.