The Danish government has begun preparations for the development of new energy islands in an effort to secure the country’s and Europe’s independence from Russian fossil fuels.
According to Denmark’s Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has left the EU in a new geopolitical situation and the need for sustainable solutions and more renewable energy is more urgent than ever.
Denmark is said to hold some of the keys to securing European energy independence from Russia.
In a new proposal, the Danish government aims to harvest the full potential of offshore wind and accelerate the production of renewable energy on land to ensure Danish and European independence from Russian fossil fuels, the Ministry said.
”Denmark and Europe must be free of Russian fossil fuels as fast as possible,” Denmark’s Minister of Climate, Energy, and Utilities Dan Jørgensen said.
”To help achieve this, Denmark will accelerate its green transition by massively increasing the deployment of much more renewable energy on land as well as at sea. The North Sea holds the wind potential to cover the energy need of millions of European homes. This great offshore wind potential must be harvested and therefore, the Danish government begins preparations for additional energy islands along with the ones already planned.”
Denmark said it wants to harvest the full potential of offshore wind to create green energy for Europe. A provisional estimate shows an initial demand for at least 35 GW of offshore wind from the Danish parts of the North Sea. This is approximately the same amount of offshore wind energy that was installed on a global level in 2020, the Ministry said.
Denmark already plans to build the world’s first energy island in the North Sea. At maximum capacity of 10 GW, the hub will be able to power 10 million European households with clean energy from its surrounding wind farms.
Another energy hub will be established on the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea with a capacity of 2 GW.
Denmark also plans to scale up and bring forward the production of renewable gas, as well as contribute with natural gas from the North Sea, to accelerate European energy independence from Russia.
In the EU, the country will push for higher targets for renewables and energy efficiency, the Ministry said.