The Danish Energy Agency has issued permit to the Danish TSO Energinet, regarding initiation of preliminary site investigations for future offshore wind farms in the Nordsøen 1 area in the North Sea.
The site investigations will be initiated in Q2 2023 and will cover geophysical and geotechnical studies of the areas designated for potential offshore wind farms and possible cable corridors.
Marine biological studies will be carried out in the surrounding areas.
With this permit, Energinet can gather relevant data concerning the identified sites.
This data will contribute to mitigating risks for potential developers.
A developer will also be able to use the results of the preliminary site investigations for the environmental impact assessment (EIA), which any concrete plans for establishing an OWF will have to undergo at a later stage.
The issued permit does not grant rights to establish offshore wind farms in the area.
In Denmark, preliminary site investigations have traditionally been initiated based on a political agreement designating a specific sites for OWF development.
However, Energinet’s preliminary site investigation for the Nordsøen I-area is being initiated prior to political agreements designating this site for OWFs.
This is a result of a decision of the Climate Agreement on Green Power and Heat 2022 to initiate preliminary site investigations for all identified suitable OWF sites in order to fulfill the ambitions of more offshore wind by 2030, DEA said.