Offshore wind energy in focus

At the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), researchers work hard to advance the science and application of renewable energy, including offshore wind. Each year, Danida Fellowship Centre introduces DTU’s expertise to a group of professionals working for Danida partners in various countries under the umbrella of Denmark’s Strategic Sector Cooperation.

By Elena Adamo

Danida Fellowship Centre’s energy learning courses include a course on offshore wind energy, which is planned and implemented once a year. It has been running for the past five years, and it focuses on three main areas: understanding offshore wind technology, planning offshore wind farms, and preparing new offshore wind areas. The aim is simple, yet important: to strengthen capacity where it matters most, by connecting global practitioners with Danish research and technology.

This year’s participants were from nine countries across Asia, Africa and South America. They were public officials, university staff and professionals; and they were all engaged in energy planning in their home countries and involved in the Strategic Sector Cooperation with Denmark.

“We work together with the Danish Energy Agency, where, each year, we prioritise which learning programmes we should offer. This learning course is one of the seven courses related to the energy sector that we have had in 2025,” says Danida Fellowship Centre’s capacity development advisor, Helle Jørgensen.

By learning together, participants strengthen both their technical understanding and their ability to create enabling frameworks for offshore wind at national level.

At DTU, the department DTU Wind and Energy Systems is pioneering the next generation of wind energy, helping to drive innovation and growth in the wind energy sector, making it a natural knowledge anchor for this learning activity. As Morten Jeppesen, head of department at DTU Wind and Energy Systems, explained on the first day of the programme:

“Our researchers are pushing the boundaries of wind technology, designing systems that can withstand change, and educating tomorrow’s technology leaders. We see each of you as part of that next generation.”

In most of Danida Fellowship Centre’s learning courses, there are five mandatory learning elements: learning by seeing, learning by applying, peer learning, translating learning into action, passing on learning. “Why these elements are fundamental to how theory, strategy and practice are introduced in the programme.

They also traveled to Jutland to visit key sites, including Esbjerg Harbour, DTU’s test centre in Østerild, and Energinet, where they learned about the integration of renewable energy – particularly wind power – into the national grid.

Case Studies: three action plans, one revolution

At the heart of this learning programme lies a defining feature of all Danida Fellowship Centre´s learning activities. It is the action plan that each participant is required to craft to drive offshore wind progress back home. We met three participants whose journeys reveal just how many ways there are to make change happen.

India: Lavanya Mavallooru Chandrachari, deputy director at the National Institute of Wind Energy. She is a veteran of Danish-Indian energy cooperation, returning to DTU ten years after her first Danida Fellowship Centre learning programme in 2015. Her action plan focuses on mapping geophysical conditions for offshore projects in India, a country already advancing in this field. Geophysical ethics in the placement of wind turbines means using earth science in a fair, truthful and environmentally responsible way when developing wind energy. For her, the key is coordination. India is much bigger than Denmark roughly 76 times larger than Denmark in terms of total land area), and despite the country having all it takes to implement wind energy, coordination is a challenge. This is something that she is taking into deep consideration in her action plan.

Mexico: José Eugenio Iturriaga Flores, a risk consultant, faces a different challenge. Working for PEMEX, the Mexican state-owned Oil and Gas Company, his task is to explore how decommissioned oil platforms could be repurposed for offshore wind. “It’s a big gamble,” he admits, but his plan demonstrates how transitions can turn legacies of fossil fuel infrastructure into foundations for renewables.

South Africa: Sandile Jacobs represents a country that is heavily reliant on coal in its energy mix. He works as an engineer at the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), and his focus is not on technology, but on regulation – understanding how frameworks and governance can adapt to enable offshore development. His action plan highlights how rules and institutions are as crucial as turbines and cables: “by putting regulation first, we can truly be ahead of the industry.”

As the participants share their experiences, it becomes clear that this programme is much more than just a technical programme. It serves as a platform for mutual learning, where fellows bring their own expertise into play and challenge Danish approaches, thereby enriching the dialogue on what an inclusive transition should look like.

The transition to renewable energy is not just about replacing fossil fuels with wind or solar energy sources. It is a system-wide revolution, an ambitious agenda that requires innovation, collaboration and long-term commitment.

As the course manager, Associate Professor and Senior Researcher Niels-Erik Clausen, remarked on the final day: “Today, we saw the presentation of their action plans, and it made me so optimistic on behalf of the planet, and it really is a nice promise for the future.”

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