Germany, Denmark Reach Agreement on Offshore Wind Cost-Sharing for Bornholm Energy Island

Denmark and Germany reached an agreement on Bornholm Energy Island in the Baltic Sea, including the allocation of costs related to offshore wind, at the North Sea Summit in Hamburg on 26 January.

The two countries signed an agreement for the Bornholm Energy Island in 2023, which was the first legally binding cooperation agreement in Europe on a joint offshore energy project under the EU Renewable Energy Directive.

At the North Sea Summit, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen presented the funding framework negotiated between Denmark and Germany for the future offshore wind projects connecting to the energy island.

“The agreement on the wind farms for the Bornholm Energy Island project marks the decisive building block for the realisation of this particular German-Danish infrastructure undertaking”, said the developers, Danish transmission system operator (TSO) Energinet and German Baltic Sea TSO 50Hertz.

The agreement on Bornholm Energy Island, prioritised as a project of common interest (PCI) and backed by a EUR 645 million grant for works from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility, marks a first key delivery of the Energy Highways initiative set out as part of the European Grids Package published in December 2025, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy (DG Energy) said on 26 January.

“Amid turbulent geopolitics, this is the leadership Europe must deliver.  At a time when some go back to fossil fuels and turn their back to the huge potential of offshore wind and renewable energy, Europe stands firm in its choice of home-grown clean energy. This is pivotal to deliver affordability of living to our citizens. To ensure industrial competitiveness and economic prosperity. To fight climate change. And to reinforce our security. This is Europe’s pathway for independence”, said Dan Jørgensen, Commissioner for Energy and Housing.

The European Commission said it would further support both parties to the agreement in its swift implementation.

The energy island will link 3 GW of electricity generated by offshore wind farms to the Danish and German national grids and transform offshore wind energy from a national resource into a shared European resource for electrification, the Commission said and added that the project also has the potential to turn the Baltic Sea into an offshore hub that will serve as a blueprint for future offshore project across the EU.

The agreement for Bornholm Energy Island was announced the same day that the North Sea countries and offshore wind players signed several declarations and agreements, including a declaration to build 100 GW of cross-border offshore wind projects and an investment pact that is said to mobilise EUR 1 trillion in economic activity.

Under the pact, the TSOs are directed to identify further hybrid projects combining electricity production and interconnection, as well as projects in one country connected to another country, and to also develop cost-sharing principles for these cooperation projects.

Commenting on the agreement reached for the Bornholm Energy Island offshore wind farms, Thomas Egebo, CEO of Energinet, said: “As transmission system operators, our role is to turn political agreements into concrete infrastructure. The agreement provides clarity on the economic framework around the project and strengthens the basis for the technical planning, coordination and cross-border cooperation that Bornholm Energy Island requires.”

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