Artificial island set to house world-first clean energy hub

This hub will provide up to 10 million homes with green energy

Denmark is heralding “the dawn of a new era for energy” after it reached a landmark agreement to build the world’s first wind energy hub on an artificial island in the North Sea.

The Danish government – which has vowed to stop all oil and gas extraction in the North Sea by 2050 – said the hub will strengthen integration of Europe’s power grids and boost renewable electricity production to create a climate neutral Europe.

The island will be built 80 kilometres from the shore and have a total area of at least 120,000 square metres. 

It will have the capacity to provide green energy to 3 million European households in its first phase, with this capacity reaching 10 million homes once fully implemented.

The Danish minister for climate, Dan Jørgensen, said this was truly a great moment for the country, as well as for the global green transition. 

“This decision marks the start of a new era of sustainable energy production in Denmark and the world and it links very ambitious climate goals with growth and green jobs,” Jørgensen said.

“The energy hub in the North Sea will be the largest construction project in Danish history.

“It will make a big contribution to the realisation of the enormous potential for European offshore wind, and I am excited for our future collaboration with other European countries.” 

The hub will gather and distribute green electricity from hundreds of wind turbines surrounding the island directly to people in countries surrounding the North Sea.

It will be a public-private partnership between the Danish government and private companies. 

Jørgensen said the project showed Denmark was “at the dawn of a new era for energy”.

He noted that the EU has set a goal to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and a target of 300 GW offshore wind energy to help reach this.

“By constructing the world’s first energy hub with a potential capacity of 10 GW, Denmark significantly contributes to this ambitious target,” he said. 

“Not only by dramatically expanding renewable energy production, but also by supplying our European neighbours with an abundance of renewable energy.”

You can find out more about the energy hub here.