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Grid operators 50Hertz and Energinet penned a letter of intent to work together to advance the development of the offshore hub Bornholm Energy Island.

They are currently carrying out preliminary studies on the project's economic and technical feasibility.

Development of the energy island was given the green light by the Danish government last year as part of a climate plan that also includes a 3GW island in the North Sea and a 1GW offshore wind farm off Hesselø. 

The energy islands are expected to act as hubs to connect several offshore wind farms and distribute power to countries connected to them.

Bornholm Energy Island will deliver around 2GW of capacity, 50Hertz stated.

50Hertz’s CEO, Stefan Kapferer, and the CEO of Energinet, Thomas Egebo, explained that the new project will connect Germany and Denmark through an interconnector during the first phase of development. Electricity from the offshore wind farms, some 20km to the south and south-west of Bornholm, will be connected to the offshore hub on the island via submarine cables by 2030.

Kapferer said: “With this project, we are not only making technological progress, but must also break new regulatory ground for the transnational use and remuneration of the generated power together with policy-makers and the offshore wind industry."

Egebo added: "If we are to succeed in the massive expansion of offshore wind, which is necessary in the coming years to fulfil the Paris climate agreement, it is absolutely vital that a significant change of gear is now taking place. A change of gears from national expansion with individual wind farms to energy islands, which in essence are and only can be transnational projects."

50Hertz and Energinet have agreed to first carry out additional analyses to establish, over the course of this year, a “solid economic and technical basis for the further steps towards the best possible project implementation”.

The project marks a continuation of a successful cooperation between both grid operators following the integration of the 400 kV Kontek interconnector and the Kriegers Flak combined grid solution system.

The grid operators hope that in the future, other partners from the Baltic area will join the partnership.

In December, seven transmission system operators founded the "Baltic Sea Offshore Grid Initiative" to help develop the wind power generating potential in the Baltic Sea of around 93GW and a potential annual generation volume of over 300 TWh/year.