COWI

So, you’ve only been at COWI? This is Vinojan Vethanayagam, or just “Vino”. Since graduating as Structural and Civil Engineer in 2017, Vino has worked at COWI where he is in project management in Buildings and Industry. “Except from my student job I’ve only been with COWI. Sometimes people ask me how come I haven’t changed jobs, and the explanation is simply that I’ve experienced personal development from day one. I started as structural engineer, shifted into a more coordinating role and then became a project manager. It’s all been a natural development where I have been able to pursue the areas, I find most interesting. Through the process I’ve been supported and encouraged by my leaders to seek professional and personal development. At the same time, I can keep a healthy balance where I get to work on big, challenging projects and feel I can live an everyday life that works for us as a family.” Read more about Vino’s work: https://lnkd.in/deXKKczR

💧Do water treatment facilities harmonise with environmental considerations, added value for neighbours and brand-new treatment technology? In Silkeborg, they do💧 The scenic nature 🌿around Silkeborg Langsø, the neighbouring lakes and streams, and the local community will be just as important as new technology when Silkeborg Forsyning expands and modernises the large water treatment facility at Søholt and the small one at Truust, in the coming years. Just like many other Danish water treatment plants, the facilities are worn (did you know that the oldest parts are from the 1970s?), and Silkeborg’s population has grown to around 100,000, most of whom are connected to the Søholt plant. In short, an upgrade is needed. As owner’s engineer, we look forward to helping make Silkeborg Forsyning’s vision come to life. How about educational visits for school classes? Or perhaps co-creating the outdoor areas with the local kayak club or Silkeborg’s residents? 🤝 Our engineers, anthropologists and sustainability specialists on the projects believe the possibilities are endless! 💡✨  

Next stop: Nuuk! The newly expanded airport in Nuuk allows direct international flights and increased regularity across Greenland❄️ The newly opened airport is able to accommodate more passengers as a part of the expansion, and a separate control tower has been constructed for operational efficiency in addition to the existing 950-meter runway, which has been upgraded to a new 2200-meter runway, allowing larger aircraft sizes. This means that Nuuk Airport will now facilitate international flights directly from Copenhagen, with plans to open a direct route from Nuuk to New York in 2025. This will improve international connectivity and is also expected to contribute to further positive development in Greenland. The new and updated airport has decreased the travel time from Copenhagen drastically. Previously, the travel to Nuuk included a stop in Kangerlussuaq, and depending on the weather, this could increase the travel time by several days. Thomas Mejer, Project Director at COWI, has been deeply involved in the project since 2017 and has first-hand experience with the positive development: "With the new airport in use, it is easier than ever to travel to Nuuk. With rapid weather changes, the stopover in Kangerlussuaq was always a joker and could potentially cost days. I lived in Nuuk from 1979 to 1982 because my parents were stationed there. Back then, getting to Nuuk was by helicopter from Kangerlussuaq. Even though it was a big experience for a 9-year-old, the new airport is a great improvement not only for Nuuk but also for Greenland in general.” Since 2017, Greenland Airports International has engaged COWI as the engineering designer for this transformative project. COWI remains committed to ensuring support for both Nuuk Airport as well as the two ongoing projects in Ilulissat and Qaqortoq Airports currently under construction. Photos: Inuplan A/S

Now spinning! South Korea's first commercial offshore wind turbines are fully operational and has produced first green power! Our partners, South Korean SK E&S and Danish Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), recently celebrated a major milestone on the Jeonnam 1 offshore wind farm project, as the first of ten wind turbines has been commissioned and is now producing power🔌 Once fully operational, Jeonnam 1's full capacity of nearly 100 MW will produce enough electricity to cover approximately 60,000 households in South Korea🏘️ And this achievement is just the beginning: Establishing the first commercial offshore wind farm paves the way for the large-scale development planned in South Korea, which has set an ambitious target of reaching 14.3 GW of installed capacity by 2030. COWI has been supporting the Jeonnam 1 project for the detailed design of the offshore wind turbine foundations, consultancy related to the wind turbine package, and part of the electrical transmission for the project. Ryan Colbeck, EPC Director for Copenhagen Offshore Partners, says, "Jeonnam 1 achieving First Power is a momentous milestone for South Korea's renewable energy ambitions. At Copenhagen Offshore Partners, we are thrilled to have collaborated with COWI, whose detailed design of the wind turbine foundations has been key to the project's success. This milestone is a testament to the strength of our long-standing partnership with COWI, and we are eager to see this collaboration continue as we drive the completion of Jeonnam 1 and embark on even larger-scale projects."  Jan Behrendt Ibsø, Senior Business Development Director, Renewable Energy, at COWI adds, “We are very proud of having contributed to the realisation of Jeonnam 1, which is the first commercial offshore wind farm project in South Korea providing green electricity to many households in South Korea”. This is not an opportunity to rest on our laurels – together with our partners, the development of Jeonnam 2 + 3, a nearby large-scale offshore wind project eight times bigger than Jeonnam 1, is already underway. These offshore projects will play a vital role in boosting the local economy, supporting fisheries, and providing employment opportunities.

Energy Islands: This is the moment of truth💡 The path to a sustainable future lies in bold solutions. By combining offshore wind and hydrogen production, energy islands can revolutionize our energy systems. But with their complexity comes a pressing question: What actions can we take to turn these visionary projects into reality? In our latest webinar, we explored how energy islands can accelerate the green transition in Denmark and Europe. Alongside experts from Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Ørsted, and Energinet, we unpacked their immense potential and addressed the critical challenges that we must overcome. Be a part of the conversation—watch or rewatch the webinar here 👇 https://lnkd.in/efhxRhkX Psst! Don’t forget to sign up for our upcoming webinar on 13 December, where we’ll dive into Denmark’s green hydrogen infrastructure. Register here: https://lnkd.in/drYR9SyE

Did you know that the Fornebu Line (Fornebubanen), a 7.7 km long extension of the metro, is the biggest metro expansion in Norway since the 60’s and 70’s? 🚆 The Fornebu Line is an under-construction railway line in a continuous tunnel system between Majorstuen and Fornebu. The project is an important urban development initiative and a catalyst for greener mobility solutions, as it will provide better public transportation services to an area under development into housing and commercial areas adjacent to the city centre. When the project is finished in 2029: ✅ People will be transported from Fornebu to Majorstuen in only 12 minutes! ✅ 6-compartment T-track trains with 8 departures per hour will be able to transport 8,000 people each hour, reducing the need for extra busses and private cars. The Fornebu Line is a complex, extensive project, including signalling infrastructure, six new stations and new maintenance facilities at Fornebu. At Majorstuen, the track will connect into the existing metro network in Oslo. The metro project is organised as an agency in Oslo kommune and is engineered and designed by a joint venture of COWI and Multiconsult.

🌊 Making waves for greater biodiversity and ecological recovery in our coastal waters in a new nature-inclusive Joint Industry Project 🦐 “After 200 years of human-induced wildlife decline in our seas, it is time to start designing projects that regenerate lost habitats over a wider area. For that reason, we are delighted to work with Wood Thilsted on this nature-inclusive Joint Industry Project”, says Alistair Kean, Director of Sustainability at COWI in the UK and adds: “We know that wind farms do create additional habitat for a wide range of species; the question is how to do this in a way that maximises biodiversity and helps promote wider ecological recovery in our coastal waters.” The Joint Industry Project will explore nature inclusivity at every phase of wind farm development, from initial planning and construction to decommissioning, considering the full scope of a wind farm – from offshore turbines to onshore substations. “Although renewable energy projects are in the long-term less damaging to the planet, they do have an environmental impact, and we feel that it is our duty to design offshore facilities to have as much biodiversity benefit as possible,” Alistair continued. Tackling the twin challenges of climate and nature loss is a generational challenge that demands a globally coordinated response. The strength of this initiative lies in collective insight and cross-disciplinary collaboration with leading players in the industry such as Arup and NIRAS.

Thrilling Progress: Wind Farm in Windy Iceland – Finally! 🌬️ The country's national power company Landsvirkjun recently had a groundbreaking ceremony for the building of Búrfellslundur, Iceland's first wind farm.   The wind farm will have an installed capacity of 120 MW, with an annual production capacity of 440 GWh, in a 17-square-kilometer area in the South of Iceland in an area where several hydropower plants are located.   Representatives from the municipality, COWI, Borgarverk (civil contractor), and Landsvirkjun celebrated the milestone, along with Mr. Guðlaugur Þórðarson, Iceland’s Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate.  The wind turbines will be erected in 2026 and 2027, with the first phase of the wind farm set to be operational by fall 2026. Landsvirkjun received its final operating license at the beginning of September. With all permits now in place, construction has officially begun at Búrfellslundur.  COWI has been involved in the project since the beginning through environmental impact assessments (EIA). Landsvirkjun received international awards in 2016 for the EIA. 

🚂 Paving the way for frequent driverless trains – one station, platform and wildlife corridor at a time! 🦌 🦔 The future of public transportation around Copenhagen looks bright: The prospect of driverless S-trains arriving and departing at a metro-like pace will benefit busy commuters and occasional passengers. Covering 87 stations and hundreds of platforms and fences, a project of this magnitude and scale requires attention to every detail – and quite a few never-done-before solutions 🔍 For instance, exploring how to best avoid gaps between trains and platforms at every station. “It will be the first time this is done in Denmark, so we have to look abroad for best practices. Right now, we’re inspired by solutions from France and Germany,” says Project Director Kristian Stub Jacobsen.  The team is currently looking at elevating small parts of the existing platforms and using humps to make it easier to enter the train.  “Technically, it’s a challenging and exciting task. Socially, it’ll make public transportation more accessible to people with reduced mobility, which feels very meaningful since it helps make society more inclusive,” Kristian adds. COWI is assisting Banedanmark in realising the driverless S-train system around Copenhagen, which will double the number of trains when finalised by the end of 2037 🚄 Apart from evening out gaps, the experts are also busy designing beautiful and safe fences around the train tracks, creating wildlife corridors for all sorts of animals 🦌 🦔 🦊 But that’s a story for another day. 

Wind and heat 🌬☀ – how to build comfier cities! Dripping of sweat as you step outside the door in the summer – or struggling with a gust of wind that destroys your umbrella in the fall. Not that comfortable, right? As we build denser areas and taller buildings in growing cities – we run the risk of creating areas that are excessively hot and windy.   “Whether it's Gothenburg or Manhattan, in order to achieve good urban planning, we need to optimise for both heat and wind conditions and air quality," says Marie Haeger-Eugensson, Research and Development Manager at COWI in Sweden.   Experts advocate incorporating solutions that avoid so-called 'heat islands' and reduce wind speeds on street level at an early stage in urban planning. How? One example is using wind technology that engineers use for bridge construction. Read more here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gPjNs9ZT