The Danish and German power transmission system operators (TSOs) Energinet and 50Hertz have signed an agreement with the European Commission to secure the allocation of €645m in funding for the Bornholm Energy Island-project in the Baltic Sea. The funding comes from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and it should support the development of an electricity interconnector between both countries to harness up to 3 GW of offshore wind energy.
Bornholm Energy Island is designed to transmit 2 GW of clean electricity to Germany and 1.2 GW to Denmark from a total of 3 GW of offshore wind parks to be established off the southern coast of Bornholm. The project is expected to be connected to the Danish grid in the early 2030s.
In addition, Energinet has signed a €650m contract with NKT for the installation of a HVDC cable system for the offshore interconnector linking the project to the Danish grid. The installation of the cables is expected to start in 2027. In 2023, NKT secured an agreement with 50Hertz for the connection to the German grid.