PensionDanmark and the Port of Esbjerg enter cooperation agreement on investments in development projects at the Port of Esbjerg

7 July 2023

New development projects are to strengthen the Port of Esbjerg’s leading position in offshore wind and ensure the port a role in the rollout of power-to-x and CO2 capture (CCS). Therefore, the port is now entering into a collaboration with PensionDanmark with an intention to invest in the port’s future contribution to the green transition.

The Port of Esbjerg will take the contribution to the green transformation to a new level. Therefore, the port has entered into a cooperation agreement with Denmark’s largest labor market pension fund, PensionDanmark, with an intention to invest in the port’s future contribution to the green transition.

“Together with the port’s companies, we will continue to be at the forefront of the wind industry, and an investment from PensionDanmark will be able to support both that role – and the role we would like to play in the development of green energy and CCS. Much more pace is needed for the green transition, and this requires enormous capacity. With the prospect of a billion kroner investment from PensionDanmark, we can look forward to being as ready as possible, as quickly as possible,” says Dennis Jul Pedersen, port director at Port of Esbjerg.

With its location by the North Sea, the Port of Esbjerg has a central role in the expansion of offshore wind, where 134 gigawatts must be established by 2030 and 300 gigawatts by 2050. Therefore, the majority of a future investment is thought to be used for the construction of facilities for the production of offshore wind turbines, which can accelerate the preparation of the port for the big wind boom and thus limit bottlenecks in the North Sea.

But there is also a need for the development of green fuels and the capture and storage of CO2 (CCS) if the green transformation is to enter the next era, where shipping and air traffic can be included. Here the Port of Esbjerg can play a key international role, as the North Sea can store 400 to 700 times more CO2 than Denmark needs.

The collaboration with PensionDanmark can be a big step towards realizing this potential, as approximately DKK 700 million is expected to be used for the establishment of terminals for power-to-x and CCS.

“At PensionDanmark, we have unique experience from more than 15 years as an active investor in the green transition, and we see good opportunities to contribute to the development of the port of Esbjerg as a natural hub for a future green energy adventure in the North Sea. We are ready to invest if the projects can be combined with a suitable return for our members’ pension savings, and with the planned projects there is an opportunity to invest timely and massive. In this way, we can give Esbjerg and Denmark the opportunity to build up an international leading position, which contains considerable export potential, as we have already seen in the wind energy area,” says Torben Möger Pedersen, CEO of PensionDanmark.

The future investments, which the collaboration is centered around, are expected to take place in three phases, with the expanded production facilities for offshore wind turbines constituting the first part and expected to be ready for use in 2027.

Facts

PensionDanmark and the Port of Esbjerg have entered into a cooperation agreement with a view to investments of up to DKK 7 billion. DKK in development projects at the port of Esbjerg.

5.8 billion DKK is expected to be used for the construction of facilities for the production of offshore wind turbines, which are expected to be ready in 2027.

Around DKK 700 million is earmarked for terminals for handling power-to-x and CCS – capture and storage of CO2 – which will be built in the hinterland of Port of Esbjerg and in the North Sea and are expected to be ready in 2028.

Finally, approximately 500 million is expected to be invested in the development of Port of Esbjerg as a multi-modal hub. It involves an interconnection between sea transport, the road network and the railway at Esbjerg Harbor as well as the connection to air freight to and from Esbjerg Airport. These measures are expected to be ready in 2032.

The investment will also go towards the development of flex terminals, logistics properties and facilities for green fuels.

Source: PensionDanmark