Danish engineering company Ramboll is studying the feasibility of putting a data center on a proposed artificial island wind farm in the North Sea.
The VindØ project proposes to build an artificial island, made of submersible concrete boxes, in the Danish part of the North Sea around 100 kilometers from land. The consortium hopes to build the island by 2030 and initially install 3GW of offshore wind turbines, rising to 10GW once fully online.
The VindØ consortium comprises two of Denmark’s largest pension funds, PensionDanmark and PFA, and Denmark’s largest utility company, Andel. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Nykredit are also involved.
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Data center on a wind farm island in the North Sea
Ramboll is supporting the development plan by providing studies of the possible activities on the island.
“While one of the primary drivers for the project is the transmission of green power to the Danish and European shores, the project offers many other possibilities for innovative thinking and value creating infrastructure due to its size and magnitude,” the company said in a press release.
As well as ‘Power-to-X (PtX) facilities’ where power from wind farms is converted to products such as hydrogen and ammonia to be used in shipping and industry, the company says it is assessing the feasibility of a data center on the energy island.
“Given the ever-increasing demand for data, placing a data center on the energy island could help secure a greener data driven future. Combined with abundant and low-cost electricity with proximity to international data cables, this could potentially be attractive for both data center developers and the owners of the energy island,” the company said.
Ramboll will also be looking at potential district heating projects, as well as accommodation and recreation facilities required for employees based on the artificial island.
“This is a historic project that will give Denmark and Europe the opportunity to become the frontrunners of green energy production and storage. There will be a huge benefit for our society from this project, and we are delighted to be involved and provide our support to the VindØ consortium," said Jesper W. Thomsen, business development director at Ramboll.
