Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) is launching a new company to export the concept of energy islands round the world.
The new company, Copenhagen Energy Islands (CEI), is working on a current portfolio of 10 such projects. These are in the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and South-east Asia.
“Our vision is to provide concrete solutions to the global challenge of scaling up renewables. If we want to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, we will need to scale up the deployment of offshore wind and other renewables to an unprecedented level,” said Jakob Baruël Poulsen, Managing Partner and founder of CIP.
Poulsen said the challenge for offshore wind was now on integration into energy systems. “We see energy islands as a key tool in solving this challenge and realizing the ambitious offshore wind targets across the globe.”
CIP is the majority owner of CEI. Other investors in the new company include PensionDanmark, PFA, SEB, and Andel.
PensionDanmark deputy CEO Peter Stensgaard Mørch said there was a “great commercial potential in energy islands globally and as a strong contender for the effective rollout of liquid green hydrogen on a large scale”. The new company could act as a catalyst, making energy islands “an attractive investment opportunity for returns to our members’ pension savings”.
Offshore plans
CIP is part of the VindØ consortium. This group set out the plan for the world’s first such energy island, VindØ, in 2020. The aim is to build the project by 2030, at the latest, connecting 3 GW of offshore wind. Ultimately, it could increase this to 10 GW.
The VindØ plan includes HVDC links, a harbour and potentially green fuel capacity.
CIP has been involved in various additional energy island plans, including one announced in November. This saw the investor teaming up with Flexens and Lhyfe for a project at Åland, in the Baltic Sea.
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