Business Center Bornholm has reached a new phase of the ’Ready for Energy Island Bornholm’ project. The project runs until 2023. Here, senior business consultant Jørn Pedersen explains why it is still important to consider whether your company can become part of the green development.
– It is about preparing Bornholm businesses, begins Jørn Pedersen about his professional role, once we have settled into a meeting room at Business Center Bornholm (BCB). He is a senior business consultant at BCB and particularly helps local businesses with green business opportunities – including the potential of Energy Island Bornholm in connection with the shipping out of wind turbines. The shipments are taking place already now and for many years to come. His hope is that more businesses will get involved and make use of the funding opportunities that are still left via the project and which can be seen at klartilenergiøbornholm.dk.
– The first part of the project started in 2020. Here, we have helped 20 local businesses to look inwards and find a strategy. How should they organise themselves structurally, and what do they need to upskill in to be adaptable? Now we are underway with the second part of the project, which is about ISO certifications, and we have ten businesses participating in that, says Jørn Pedersen, underlining that it is still possible to get in touch if you want general sparring in relation to the Energy Island and the ongoing shipments, and that there is, among other things, an opportunity to apply for capital grants or further education.
– We also encourage people to contact large companies such as Vestas and Siemens, or partners and subcontractors to these experienced companies within wind turbines and the offshore industry in general, to find out if cooperation is possible in the future. Here, the primary responsibility lies with the companies themselves, he explains, and advises researching where wind turbines are to be erected and who is involved. This can indeed yield good ideas.
– There are, of course, some absolute ”musts” if you are going out onto a site to work, but it can also be something as mundane as learning to speak English that can prepare you. The important thing is trying to sit down and open your eyes to the fact that great opportunities are waiting on the horizon. And this applies in principle to all industries. People often think that the Energy Island is only relevant to blacksmithing businesses or similar, but in reality, you have to think very broadly. It can be anything from accommodation to restaurants and coach companies – in fact, only the imagination sets the limits.
"The important thing is to try to sit down and realise that great opportunities are waiting on the horizon."
The business consultant's 3 tips
- Look outwards. What opportunities are there? Keep an eye on websites that talk about how much wind energy is going to be produced in the Baltic Sea over the many years to come.
- Look inwards. What can your business do? What lies within its DNA? Are upgrades needed?
- Create an action plan with clear sub-goals and targets so that the business understands what it needs to work with and towards.
Think outside the box
A local example of thinking very broadly is a team consisting of two marine biologists, who are currently investigating whether it is possible to think outside the box regarding the establishment and operation of the Energy Island.
– By engaging in a dialogue with the developers of major construction projects such as wind turbines or harbour moles, and by factoring in biodiversity for example, it may be possible to secure new habitats for fish and other marine life. This way, one can help to benefit the marine environment instead of the opposite, says Jørn Pedersen, before turning around and beginning to draw on a whiteboard – a quick illustration of the Energy Island's location in the Baltic Sea, and how it, along with the Energy Island in the North Sea, is to supply green electricity to millions of households in Denmark and neighbouring countries.
– In this offshore adventure, one must also be aware that there are many international players who have their eyes on Bornholm, because the island is situated as a hub in an entire development region surrounding offshore wind farms. And that means, of course, that one has the opportunity to gain entirely new customers in another country.
Here, points out the business consultant, we are back at the core of his message. It is important to get clarity.
– We often hear the criticism that the load-out itself in connection with the establishment of offshore wind turbines lasts a short time, and that is true enough, but there is also the ongoing service, where there will be sailing back and forth for decades. That is interesting and opens up a whole undergrowth of businesses if Bornholm could become a service island for wind farms.
– The same applies to the upcoming transformer station, which is to be part of the Energy Island. No one is yet saying: ”Well, who is going to build it, and who is going to maintain it?” Right now, it is merely a template. Nothing has been decided. Therefore, businesses on Bornholm must get ready, because they have just as good a chance as any other businesses.
Invest in development
Bornholm's location in the Baltic Sea – centrally situated in relation to all the many wind farms planned to be built in the coming years – is a compelling reason to prepare, because otherwise there is a risk that companies in Germany, Poland or Sweden will snap up the contracts put out to tender by the winners of the various bidding projects, Jørn Pedersen points out, and elaborates:
– We are trying to help make that clear for the businesses. It is difficult for businesses to get an overview, as there are still many unknown factors, and therefore many also cannot see how big it is going to be. Some might think that nothing will happen until companies like Ørsted, Vattenfall and so on start operating the projects, but we believe that now is the time for businesses to get ready so that they don't miss the boat. When all is said and done, it is generally also about keeping up with the times, says the business consultant.
– It is, after all, a constant condition for a business that it must continuously renew and develop itself. For what happens if it doesn't? Then it might have to shut down.
Isn't it difficult and expensive for small businesses to adapt – it's also a gamble, after all?
– It is a dilemma. Naturally, you have to look after your existing customers well, but you also need to develop to attract new customers – and new employees. Otherwise, you stand still, and the existing customer portfolio can fall away. Once upon a time, oil boilers were popular, for example, but now it is heat pumps that it is all about – which requires new competencies within the company.
– Of course it costs money and time to develop further and retrain, but you have to remember that it is an investment. If you invest a krone, you are taking a gamble, and you might not get it back straight away, but after a while it becomes two kroner and in the long run perhaps four.
"Often people think that the Energy Island is only relevant to smithies or similar businesses, but in reality, you have to think very broadly, says Jørn Pedersen, who is a senior business consultant at Business Center Bornholm."