The Danish Offshore Sector

11 Nov 2011

The Danish offshore sector includes large, globally oriented companies like Maersk, Vestas, Danfoss, DONG Energy, Siemens and Vattenfall.

 The Danish offshore sector consists of more than 230 companies, several universities and organisations employing more than 13,000 people. The sector deals with oil and gas exploration, offshore wind power generation, wave energy development and various offshore support functions like engineering, material development, logistics, safety, facility management and training.

In the coming years towards 2020 the construction of the Femern Belt connection will result in investments of around 5 billion EUR. The Femern Belt connection will connect eastern Denmark and south Sweden with northern Germany through what will become the world's longest combined road and train tunnel. The project will involve significant offshore activities.

Offshore wind power generation

Mainly based in Esbjerg (large offshore supply and support base at the North Sea), the Danish offshore sector developed rapidly during the 1970’s and 1980’s due to the oil and gas exploration activities in the North Sea.

Now, the sector is in the process of shifting its main focus towards offshore wind power generation in order to meet the huge demand for wind farms in the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and other European sea areas.

Research and development in offshore wind power turbines

Many leading global wind turbine component manufacturers and developers are entering the offshore sector as part of their transformation processes.

The former Odense Steel Shipyard, Lindoe, is developing a Maersk ship yard which is becoming a significant research and development site for offshore wind power turbine foundations and wave energy plants.

Innovation center for Danish maritime offshore industry

Offshore Center Denmark in Esbjerg is the official Danish national competence and innovation center for the Danish offshore industry. The Offshore Center facilitates cooperation within the sector, manages development projects, provides knowledge sharing activities and promotes the Danish offshore sector at an international level.

Projects managed by the Offshore Center includes development of offshore constructions, HR capabilities and procedures and support systems, improved access to offshore installations, optimised decommissioning and material substitution.