Denmark will build an artificial island in the North Sea, which will serve as a wind energy hub eventually capable of meeting the electricity consumption of 10 million European households with green energy, the Danish Climate and Energy Ministry said on Thursday.
Denmark has a very ambitious and legally binding target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, and reach net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest.
At the end of last year, Denmark announced it would stop extracting oil from the North Sea in 2050, and canceled all future licensing rounds for oil and gas extraction from the North Sea.
The decision to build an artificial island in the North Sea for clean energy production is part of the country's ambition to cut its emissions and contribute to the European Union's (EU) goal for carbon neutrality by 2050, the Danish Climate and Energy Ministry said today.
The island will be built 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the shore of the Jutland peninsula, and the project will be a public-private partnership between the Danish state and private companies, with the state holding the majority.
"The energy hub in the North Sea will be the largest construction project in Danish history. It will make a big contribution to the realization of the enormous potential for European offshore wind, and I am excited for our future collaboration with other European countries," Dan Jørgensen, Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities, said in a statement.
The island is expected to be able to provide 3 million European households with green energy in its first phase and to provide clean energy to 10 million European households when fully completed.
The island will cost around US$33.8 billion (210 billion Danish crowns) and is expected to be operational around 2033, Reuters reported.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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