Denmark to create energy islands

COPENHAGEN: Denmark has approved a plan to build the world’s first energy island in the North Sea that will produce and store enough green energy to cover the electricity needs of 3 million European households.

The artificial island will be linked to hundreds of offshore wind turbines and will supply both power to households and green hydrogen for use in shipping, aviation, industry and heavy transport.

The move came as the European Union unveiled plans to transform its electricity system to mostly renewable energy within a decade and increase its offshore wind energy capacity 25fold by 2050.

The energy island, which will cost around 210 billion krone ($NZ47.2 billion) to build, is an important part of Denmark’s legally binding target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030 from 1990 levels.

Denmark also has plans for an energy island in the Baltic Sea. The state will hold a controlling stake in both islands.