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Bornholm Island

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations20
System facts25
Sources reviewed11
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

Bornholm is a live island power system and long-running smart-grid test platform connected to Sweden by one subsea cable. EcoGrid EU enrolled roughly 2,000 households in 2011-2015, and EcoGrid 2.0 concluded in 2019 after remotely coordinating electric heating in 800 homes. Under normal conditions BEOF says its own local generation is entirely wind, solar, biomass, and biogas, while the island imports Nordic electricity when local renewable output is insufficient and starts Rønne thermal units during cable outages. BEOF announced a 10 MW Hitachi Energy battery for installation in the old Rønne coal plant in 2026, but no public commissioning confirmation was found by this review.

Research status
EcoGrid EU and EcoGrid 2.0 are complete demonstrations; Bornholm remains an operating island grid and active Test Island Bornholm platform. BEOF and Energinet signed a May 2026 reserve-supply agreement for 2027-2031. A 10 MW Hitachi Energy battery was announced for 2026 installation but is not counted as commissioned absent confirmation. The separate 3 GW Bornholm Energy Island offshore project was revived by a January 2026 Danish-German agreement and remains future infrastructure.
Historical classification
Community
Reported capacity
See component specifications
Coordinates
55.16043, 14.86688
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Bornholm Island?

20 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT)

Project partner [3]

Organization

Bornholms Energi & Forsyning (BEOF)

Local electric-grid owner/operator, generation owner, Test Island host, EcoGrid partner, and party responsible for reserve island supply. [4][5][10]

Organization

Danish Energy Association

EcoGrid 2.0 consortium participant and project coordinator in the completed 2016-2019 demonstration. [8]

Organization

Eandis

Project partner [3]

Organization

EDP Distribuição

Project partner [3]

Organization

Elia

Project partner [3]

Organization

EnCT

Project partner [3]

Organization

Energinet

Danish transmission-system operator and counterparty to BEOF's 2027-2031 reserve-supply agreement for Bornholm. [10]

Organization

Energinet.dk

Transmission-system and project partner [3]

Organization

Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN)

Project partner [3]

Organization

European Commission

Seventh Framework Programme funder [3]

Organization

Hitachi Energy

Supplier selected for BEOF's announced 10 MW indoor battery at the former Rønne coal plant. [9]

Organization

IBM

EcoGrid 2.0 technology/consortium participant. [8]

Organization

Landis+Gyr

Metering and technology partner [3]

Organization

Siemens

Technology partner [3]

Organization

SINTEF Energy Research

Project partner [3]

Organization

Tallinn University of Technology

Research partner [3]

Organization

Technical University of Denmark (DTU)

Research lead/partner for EcoGrid demonstrations and operator of experimental monitoring, forecasting, and SCADA research infrastructure. [7][8]

Organization

Tecnalia

Project partner [3]

Organization

TNO

Research partner [3]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Wind
29000 [1]
KW Gas/Diesel
34000 [1]
Archived island peak load
63 MW [1]
Archived generating fleet
14 diesel generators (34 MW), two steam units (25 MW and 37 MW), 35 wind turbines (29 MW), and two biogas turbines (2 MW) [1]
EcoGrid project period
March 2011 to February 2015; EU project 268199 [3]
Island electricity demand
Approximately 250 GWh/year, with a roughly 55 MW peak and about 28,000 electricity customers in DTU's technical system description [7][6]
Local renewable share
BEOF says local production rose from about 50% to roughly 75% of annual island consumption over the prior decade; a separate BEOF page says its wind and solar average about 65% of consumption daily. These are different measures and not interchangeable. [6][5]
Normal BEOF production mix
BEOF characterizes 100% of its own local electricity production under normal conditions as wind, solar, biomass, and biogas; this does not mean all island consumption is renewable because Nordic grid imports cover shortfalls. [4][5]
DTU documented generation fleet
35 wind turbines totaling 30 MW, 5 MW PV, 2 MW biogas engines, 34 MW across 14 oil diesels, a 25 MW oil steam unit, and a 37 MW multi-fuel oil/coal/wood-chip steam unit; the page was updated in 2022 and its fleet figures should be treated as dated [7]
Announced battery
10 MW indoor BESS, approximately 100 tonnes, planned in the old Rønne coal plant during 2026; MWh/duration not disclosed [9]
EcoGrid participation
About 2,000 households in EcoGrid EU (2011-2015); 800 households with remotely controlled heat pumps/electric heaters in the completed EcoGrid 2.0 field trial [8]
Future Bornholm Energy Island
3 GW offshore wind connection linking Danish and German systems, intended to supply electricity equivalent to about three million homes; not current Bornholm microgrid capacity [11]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

Demand-response control

Model not publicly disclosed

EcoGrid used real-time electricity pricing and flexible-load control across participating customers; the public consortium page does not identify one island-wide controller model. [3]

02

Operational SCADA

ABB — Network Manager SCADA

Operational at BEOF with an experimental counterpart at DTU; approximately one-second system signals support research and operation. [7]

03

Power-quality monitoring

Elspec — G4430

Ten grid recorders plus seven plant-level recorders are described in DTU's research instrumentation inventory. [7]

04

Advanced metering and synchrophasors

Model not publicly disclosed

Five-minute customer smart-meter data, PMUs, and wind/PV/load forecasting feed the island research platform. [7]

05

Planned battery system

Hitachi Energy

10 MW indoor BESS intended for grid balancing, ancillary services, and faster black start; energy capacity was not published. [9]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • General

    Peak load: 63 MW [1]

  • Generation

    Diesel, steam, CHP, wind, biogas [1]

  • Grid topology

    Bornholm is connected to the Swedish/Nordic grid by a single subsea cable. When that connection is unavailable, BEOF maintains island-operation capability using local reserve plant. [4][5][10]

  • EcoGrid 2.0 outcome

    The 2016-2019 demonstration remotely coordinated heat pumps and electric heaters in 800 homes to test flexible demand against grid and market needs. The earlier target of 1,000 devices/households should not replace the realized 800-household figure. [8]

  • Test platform scale

    BEOF reports more than ten years as a full-scale test island, a portfolio valued around DKK650 million, and more than EUR100 million of project activity handled. [4]

  • Reserve-supply update

    The May 2026 BEOF-Energinet agreement requires BEOF to maintain reserve generation and response for 2027-2031 when the Sweden cable is unavailable, replacing the arrangement that runs through the end of 2026. [10]

  • Battery update

    BEOF announced the 10 MW battery on 13 March 2025 for installation during 2026. No public commissioning confirmation was found by 20 July 2026, so it remains classified as announced/in installation. [9]

  • Energy Island distinction

    The January 2026 Danish-German agreement revived the separate 3 GW Bornholm Energy Island offshore transmission project. It is future interconnector/offshore-wind infrastructure and must not be added to the current island microgrid fleet. [11]

Provenance

11 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  2. [2]
    https://building-microgrid.lbl.gov/bornholm-island

    building-microgrid.lbl.gov · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  3. [3]
    EcoGrid EU

    Bornholms Energi & Forsyning · Primary source

  4. [4]
    Test Island Bornholm

    Bornholms Energi & Forsyning · Primary source

  5. [5]
    Sustainability

    Bornholms Energi & Forsyning · Primary source

  6. [6]
    Renewable Energy

    Bornholms Energi & Forsyning · Primary source

  7. [7]
    Technical Bornholm Power System

    Technical University of Denmark · Primary source

  8. [8]
    EcoGrid 2.0 completes large-scale smart-grid experiment on Bornholm

    Technical University of Denmark · Primary source

  9. [9]
  10. [10]
    BEOF sikrer strøm til Bornholm med ny aftale om reserveforsyning

    Bornholms Energi & Forsyning · Primary source

  11. [11]
    Energy highways: Germany and Denmark agree on joint development of Bornholm Energy Island

    European Commission Directorate-General for Energy · Primary source

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