Ørsted + ATP have signed an agreement with leading digital infrastructure and connectivity player GlobalConnect to make the North Sea Energy Island a backbone in the future digitisation of Northern Europe and attract large-scale digital investments to Denmark.
Ørsted + ATP want the North Sea Energy Island to be more than just an island. It will draw upon a ground-breaking modular design to become a future-proof and innovative piece of Danish infrastructure at the centre of the world’s largest offshore network of green energy. The world’s first artificial energy island will soon be established in the North Sea, approximately 100km off the coast of Denmark. Surrounded by 10 offshore wind farms, the energy island will use the strong North Sea winds to collect and distribute huge amounts of green energy to Denmark, and into Europe.
Innovative and smart island
Today, Ørsted, the Danish multinational power company, along with Denmark's largest institutional investor ATP, are taking another significant step to make the North Sea Energy Island an innovative and smart island and a centre of a green and digitally connected tomorrow. Ørsted + ATP have signed an agreement with GlobalConnect to make The North Sea Energy Island a cross-border digital hub. This is expected to be a major opportunity to deliver on the future digitisation agenda of Northern Europe and a key enabler to potentially attract large-scale investments in digital infrastructure, including data centres.
GlobalConnect has the most extensive high-capacity network and experience in Northern Europe with more than 100,000 km of fibre across the region. Data consumption is expected to rise significantly in the coming years, as more devices connect to the internet. This will require a capacity expansion of the grid transporting data between the North Sea countries, and a smart North Sea Energy Island offers a natural intersection for this grid, while also being a reliable source of renewable energy to power the digitisation.
Future-proofing the region
Martin Lippert, Group CEO of GlobalConnect: “The North Sea Energy Island will play a significant part in future-proofing the region while strengthening the Nordic’s position as an attractive hub for transporting data across the world. As a provider of cross-border critical digital infrastructure, we are very excited to share the vision with Ørsted + ATP to build a smart energy island with a resilient and secure network that paves the way for the digital future of offshore wind while providing a unique attraction to global tech giants.”
By making the North Sea Energy Island a digital hub, Denmark will be centrally placed to attract investments in two of the most significant long-term growth industries globally: renewable energy and digital infrastructure.
A digital hub
In recent years, the Nordic countries have become home to some of the world’s largest tech companies. Building high-capacity and secure digital infrastructure across Nordic and European countries is key to meeting the demands of the tech giants, as well as society’s growing need for robust internet connections.
With today’s agreement, Ørsted + ATP and GlobalConnect are paving the way to attract large operators. The proximity to large-scale emission-free energy and GlobalConnect’s secure and resilient digital backbone could thereby attract significant investments to the North Sea Energy Island and, consequently, to Denmark. Additionally, the smart energy island will become a central part in the next phases of the regional offshore wind build-out by enabling for example autonomous operations and further digitising offshore wind.
Supporting the green transition
Rasmus Errboe, Head of Region Continental Europe at Ørsted: “The North Sea Energy Island offers Denmark a unique opportunity to become a hub for the key technologies of tomorrow, and thereby attract significant investments within both renewable energy and digitalisation. We’re very excited to work with GlobalConnect to enable the future connectivity needs of the region, while leveraging our unique modular design to potentially attract global tech investments to the region, including on the North Sea Energy Island.”
Claus Wiinblad, Senior Vice President at ATP: “When embarking on such a significant long-term investment as The North Sea Energy Island, it’s crucial that the dynamics of the concept and construction meet the demands of the future sustainable and digital society. We want to create a versatile and flexible energy island that will support the green transition, both now and in the years to come, as well as being a sensible risk-adjusted investment of the Danish pensions. In GlobalConnect we have a resilient partner in digital infrastructure to secure connectivity and growth.”
