Orsted and its partner ATP have revealed details of a modular concept for their proposed North Sea Energy Island development to reduce construction time.
Orsted, ATP and their partners Aarsleff, Bouygues Construction and Van Oord are proposing building the artificial island from flexible modules.
They claim this “future-proof” solution will be able to deliver large amounts of green power “as quickly as possible”.
The modules can be built on land, while the reclaimed island and offshore wind turbines are built at sea, which will result in “great time savings during the construction phase”, Orsted and ATP said.
With this flexible, modular concept, Orsted and ATP estimate that the energy island in the North Sea can deliver green power two years before an inflexible, contained island.
The partners said that their concept of using flexible modules mean the artificial island can be expanded and that the modules can be added and replaced as required.
Building the modules onshore and connecting them to the North Sea Energy Island means that the island “can easily be upgraded to accommodate more than the 10GW of offshore wind power” that is Denmark’s current ambition.
It can also be adapted to accommodate the rapid developments in Power-to-X and other technologies in both 2030 and 2050, the partners added.
Rasmus Errboe, head of region, Continental Europe at Orsted, said: “With our approach, the North Sea Energy Island will be more than just an island.
“We believe that our modular concept offers the best conditions for ensuring that the energy island will remain relevant in both 2030 and 2050, and we’re looking forward to the further dialogue with the authorities and decision makers about the ‘North Sea Energy Island’.”