Friday 15 October 2021

The Minister of Climate, Energy and Supply gives Energinet a new order to expand the current feasibility studies at Energiø Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. Experience from other offshore wind turbine projects shows that it is appropriate to pre-study a larger area, because parts of the areas may prove to be unusable. At the same time, the waters off Bornholm may be a relevant alternative to Hesselø Offshore Wind Farm if it cannot be realized.

On 14 October 2021, the Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities issued a new order to expand the feasibility study area at Energiø Bornholm. Energinet received permission to start the feasibility studies on 22 June 2021 and therefore already has ships in the lake to investigate the seabed and environmental conditions in the areas where it has been politically decided to set up offshore wind.

The feasibility studies now cover the entire orange area on the map above, so there is potentially room for 3 GW of offshore wind. This is 1 GW more than the 2 GW already decided in the Climate Agreement of 22 June 2020. A prerequisite for having room for more offshore wind is that the border is moved in to 15 km from the coast.

The supply of Hesselø Offshore Wind Farm has been put on hold after the feasibility studies have shown that there are areas with soft bottoms that could indicate less favorable conditions than originally assumed in the fine screening of the area. If it turns out that the area by Hesselø cannot be used, the planned offshore wind farm must be located elsewhere.

The location at Energiø Bornholm is one of several possible alternatives to Hesselø, which the Danish Energy Agency is investigating. On 8 October 2021, the Agency initiated new fine screening for areas for setting up offshore wind, including alternatives to Hesselø Offshore Wind Farm.

The area around Bornholm may also be relevant if it is politically decided to expand with more wind by 2030. The order only provides an opportunity to study the areas, and it will require a new political decision to use the expanded areas for the establishment of offshore wind.

In addition to offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea, the order includes feasibility studies for cable connections between the energy island and offshore wind farms, export cables to Zealand and international connections to neighboring countries (interconnectors).