Integration and sector coupling are key elements in realizing the energy islands Comment by Christian Boysen, COO, Energy Cluster Denmark

In his seventeenth-century poem, the English author John Donne wrote the now famous sentence: “No man is an island”.

Now a proverb, the phrase no man is an island means that no one is self-sufficient and able to get by on their own; everyone relies on others to thrive. When it comes to energy islands, the proverb is even more true: No energy island can function or thrive as an actual island. The energy islands need to function as distribution hubs, connecting energy production, energy transformation and energy distribution as an essential clog in the wheel being the green energy transition. The Offshore Energy Hubs-project addresses this.

The purpose of the project is to develop technical solutions to a variety of aspects in relation to the offshore energy islands, such as:

a) Solutions enhancing operational stability and thereby security of the energy supply

b) Improving cost-efficiency in the design of wind power plants

c) Hub-optimized offshore Power-to-X

The moon, please

The decision to establish – and in one case build in the middle of the North Sea – the world’s first two offshore energy islands is at the very foundation of realizing the Danish national climate targets. As the largest infrastructure project in Denmark's history with a total price of DKK 210 billion, the energy islands – or energy hubs – will establish Denmark as a green, renewable energy supplier to Europe, with the islands able to produce green electricity at a capacity to power at least five million households. Adding to that we will be a primary supplier of green hydrogen to the entire continent.

Indeed, the two islands mark a new era for not just energy export, but for a green Danish technology export. Not least as the proposed energy hubs require the development of technical solutions addressing several aspects of Energy Islands, such as tools and control solutions for stable and resilient hub operation, cost-efficient design of wind power plants, hub-optimized offshore Power-to-X.

Not least is the ability to build a seamless connection to the power systems onshore. Building the islands is, as we say in Denmark, our moon-landing. If the islands are our Apollo 11, the integration and sector coupling from the islands to the mainland are the journey back home as key elements in realizing the vision of the energy islands.

Team effort

The holistic vision of the energy islands calls for sector coupling and for tearing down silos. We cannot isolate any one part of the new energy system, we have to consider every aspect of an efficient production, distribution and – not least – energy conservation in an effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption to make it all work. No energy island can thrive on their own, everyone relies on others.

So do we in the process, and we are delighted to be teaming up with visionary national and international market leaders such as Energinet, Ørsted, DTU Wind Energy and Energy Systems, PowerLab DK, AAU Plan, AAU Energy, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Green Hydrogen Systems, Super Grid Institute and Cenergy Holdings in shaping the green energy of the future.