Denmark to Launch North Sea Energy Island Tender in Spring 2023. The tender for the construction and operation of the Danish North Sea Energy Island is now expected to be launched in Spring 2023, as a new political agreement has been reached on the tender rules, which include significant requirements in the areas of working conditions and environmental protection.

Public-Private Ownership Decided to Be in Form of a Partnership Company

Under the agreement, the energy island company will be established as a partnership company (Partnerselskaber; P/S) instead of the initially planned limited company. 

A partnership company is considered to ensure fairer competition in the upcoming tender, according to the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities.

The Ministry also said that in this way the state will make high demands on the future co-owner to ensure that the private company is a serious, professional, and fair partner.

The state will own at least 50.1 per cent of the shares in the energy island company, as agreed in September last year.

‘Unprecedentedly’ High Working Conditions and Environmental Demands

According to the agreement, the energy island is initially expected to be defined as critical infrastructure which, given the increased control of the private co-owner and simultaneous construction and co-ownership of the critical infrastructure, may be experienced as a stricter requirement by players in the market as certain requirements are new and unproven in practice.

“Not only are we building the world’s first energy island, we also insist on raising the bar for the construction to be done in a responsible manner – socially, economically and environmentally”, said the Danish Climate, Energy and Utilities Minister, Dan Jørgensen.

“We set unprecedentedly high demands for the island to be established under proper working conditions and with consideration for the environment, and we ensure responsible private co-ownership of the important critical infrastructure asset that the energy island will be”.

Political agreement

In addition, the political agreement also outlines the direction for the Danish Energy Agency’s and the state advisers’ further work with tender frameworks for the energy island in the North Sea. 

The further work with the island’s business model and technical concept will focus on a flexible island concept, which gives the opportunity to combine a dammed island with electricity transmission and energy conversion on platforms or in the offshore wind turbines around the island.

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