DENMARK ENERGY ISLAND : HONORS

 

COPENHAGEN: Denmark said Friday it has approved plans to build an artificial island in the North Sea that could generate wind power for at least three million households.

Parliament in June adopted a political environmental framework aim at reducing the country’s CO2 emissions by 70 percent by 2030, which included plans for the world’s “energy hubs” on the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and in the North Sea.

On Thursday, parliament wen further by approving a plan to place the North Sea hub on an artificial island, with a wind power farm that will initially supply three gigawatts of electricity.

That could later be scaled up to 10 GW - enough for 10 million households according to the ministry of climate, energy and utilities, much more than needed for Denmark’s population of 5.8 million.

“Clearly this is too much for Denmark alone and this is also why we see this as part of a bigger European project,” Climate Minister Dan Jorgensen told AFP , adding that Denmark wanted to also export excess energy to the rest of Europe.

Plans also include the use of ''electrolysis'' to extract hydrogen for use in the production of renewable fuels for things like maritime transport.

''The island, the largest construction project in the history of Denmark,'' is to be majority owned by Danish government in partnership with private companies and is expected to cost around 210 billion Danish kroner. (AFP)