Ørsted and pension giant to bid for Danish North Sea energy island

Ørsted and Danish pension fund ATP have announced plans to jointly bid to operate Denmark’s planned North Sea energy island.

The government is due to tender an artificially constructed island serving as a hub to connect offshore wind farms in the North Sea and distribute power generated.

Ørsted and ATP will also examine how best to integrate power-to-x technology – to use excess electtricity to produce chemical products, such as green hydrogen – within the energy island and future energy infrastructure in the North Sea.

Green hydrogen or ammonia could be used to decarbonise sectors such as aviation and heavy transport, the Danish government had suggested.

Danish developer Ørsted has stakes in more than 8.2GW of operational offshore wind farms worldwide, according to Windpower Intelligence, the research and data division of Windpower Monthly.

Meanwhile, ATP has more than 5.3 million members with funds totalling DKK 960 billion (€130 billion).

The partners explained that their joint bid would build on their industrial and financial capabilities.

The Danish government has not yet given a timeline for tendering the North Sea energy island.

However, it has previously stated that the Danish state would retain a majority stake in the island.