Grant Agreement Executed for Bornholm Energy Island

The European Commission has signed a grant agreement worth EUR 645.2 million ($756.4 million) for the Bornholm Energy Island, a Danish-German project that it says is the world’s first hybrid direct current interconnector.

The project will connect several wind farms via a single offshore hub on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. The hub will deliver three gigawatts of electricity onshore to be distributed to millions of homes and businesses in Denmark and Germany.

The project is owned by Danish state-owned gas and power transmission systems operator Energinet and German electricity transmission system operator 50Hertz.

“As a first-of-its-kind project, the Bornholm Energy Island also strengthens the business case for subsequent projects and unlocks key technical and innovative solutions”, the Commission said in a statement on its website.

The funding comes from the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for Energy program.

“CEF Energy is funding the construction of two new converter stations (one on Bornholm and one in Zealand), and the installation of an extensive submarine cable system of around 200 kilometers, complemented by a 17-kilometer onshore connection between Zealand and Bornholm”, the statement said.

The total project cost is currently estimated to be EUR 7 billion, according to the project owners.

Concurrently Energinet and 50Hertz announced an award to Siemens Energy for the construction and turnkey delivery of four converter systems and other technical components on the Danish islands of Bornholm and Zealand and the German mainland. 

The contract “covers the design, the completion, transport, installation, testing as well as commissioning of the systems by the mid-2030s”, said a statement on 50Hertz’s website.

With the contract, the project is “moving from the planning and development stage to the implementation stage” after a “six-month transition phase during which the joint project had to be paused due to the need for political regulation between the two countries involved”, the owners said.

“These issues included the question of liability in case no electricity can flow to Germany through an international offshore grid connection because of a disturbance or due to maintenance”, said 50Hertz chief executive Stefan Kapferer. “Such a guarantee is the prerequisite for a successful tender for the wind farm areas off Bornholm in particular and, more generally, for an efficient offshore cross-linking between all countries bordering the North and Baltic Seas.

“The amendment of the Energy Industry Act (Energiewirtschaftsgesetz, EnWG) by the Federal Cabinet now also enables the connection of an additional wind farm in Danish waters to the German extra high voltage grid through the Ostwind 4 grid connection project planned by 50Hertz”.

50Hertz already executed a framework agreement with Danish manufacturer NKT late 2023 for the production and laying of the submarine and onshore cables between Bornholm and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

“Following a Europe-wide tender and the approval by the Danish government, Energinet was now also able to order the cable connection between Bornholm and Seeland from NKT”, said the statement on 50Hertz’s website.

The statement added the approval procedure in Denmark has been launched. Energinet and 50Hertz “are preparing for public hearings of the Danish environmental agency on Bornholm Island”, the statement said.

“The approval procedure for the cable routes through the Exclusive Economic Zone in Germany, the coastal waters as well as on land has not started yet”, the statement said. “Nevertheless, 50Hertz has started early public participation and informed the local population and the authorities of the planned location for a new substation with converter in the municipality of Kemnitz in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district”.

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