When it comes to expanding offshore wind power, Denmark has no vision too small. The country that once put the world’s first wind farm in the sea is now planning entire energy islands. They are supposed to literally grow out of the seabed, surrounded by wind farms, from which electricity can be used to generate hydrogen, for example. The small country has already installed more than 600 turbines in the sea, and many more are to come. And that’s why the Danish government is inviting its North Sea neighbors to Esbjerg this Wednesday.
Because the wind plans in the north have taken on a whole new urgency since Europe wants to become less dependent on Russian energy imports. At the invitation of the Danish government, the heads of government of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands are meeting in Esbjerg this Wednesday to discuss further steps for the expansion of wind energy. The EU must “become independent of Russian gas as quickly as possible,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen explained in the run-up to the newspaper politics. Together they want to turn the North Sea into a “green power plant for all of Europe” and look for ways to “accelerate” the development of ambitious offshore wind farms.
All North Sea countries are currently pushing the construction of offshore wind farms. Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands – they have all increased their previous expansion targets in recent months, sometimes drastically. In Germany, for which Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced himself in Esbjerg, the cabinet approved a new version of the offshore wind energy law last month. It envisages wind farms with a total output of 30 gigawatts for 2030 – ten gigawatts more than before. A good five percent of Germany’s electricity already comes from the North or Baltic Seas. 1,500 wind turbines with a total capacity of almost eight gigawatts have now been installed in the German sea.
This makes Germany number two in Europe, because no other country has as many offshore wind farms as the United Kingdom. With more than 2500 wind turbines, it represents 45 percent of all capacities. The Netherlands provide three gigawatts, followed by Denmark and Belgium.
Denmark claims leadership
The summit should now help to coordinate the expansion more closely, at least between the EU partners. In addition, the various wind farms in different countries in the North Sea are moving closer together: it would make sense to connect them with each other. This would also create a network of lines that would connect the countries with each other. All in all, the Europeans have to say goodbye to “silo thinking”, demands Stefan Thimm, head of the German offshore association BWO. “We finally have to start seeing the North Sea as the common space that it is.”
The fact that Mette Frederiksen claims “leadership” for Denmark in all this is due to the gigantic offshore wind farms that the country is already building. The “energy island” in the North Sea, which was decided in 2021, with the wind farms connected to it, should once supply electricity for ten million households, four times as much as Denmark has. With costs equivalent to 28 billion euros, it will be the largest construction project in the country’s history. Completion is expected by 2033 at the latest. Last month, the Danish government followed up with a new plan: additional energy islands are to increase the installed capacity at sea from 2.3 gigawatts today to 16 gigawatts in 2030. Denmark primarily wants to export the energy.
Just this Wednesday, the EU Commission also wants to adopt a plan on how to become independent of Russian energy imports by 2027 – also through more green energy. According to drafts, by 2030 not 40 but 45 percent of all energy should come from renewable sources. Ironically, Russia is now driving the Europeans into a faster farewell to fossil fuels.