Key client cases
Expanding and upgrading electricity grids is urgently required to meet rising energy demand and an increasing share of renewable energy. In Denmark, power consumption is expected to more than double by 2035. The increasing demand puts a strain on the current energy grid to transport power in a stable and efficient way to consumers. The planned energy island in the Danish North Sea aims to help address this challenge by gathering power produced by nearby offshore wind farms and distributing it to millions of users in Western Europe.
“Denmark’s energy islands mark the beginning of a new era within offshore wind energy and will kick off a complete transformation and a closer alignment of the European energy system. Getting great experts on the task is key, so we can solve the many challenges in collaboration.”
Ramboll is working with the Danish transmission system operator, Energinet, to make this happen. As the client consultant, we will assist Energinet in establishing the island, which will be one of the world’s largest electrical infrastructure projects of its kind.
The energy island will have a capacity of 3GW zero carbon electricity, equivalent to approximately half of Denmark’s electricity consumption today. By 2040, this figure will rise to 10GW, which is enough to power 10 million homes in Northern Europe.
Illustration: © Danish Energy Agency
It will be a showcase for innovative and efficient offshore electrical infrastructure, helping pave the way for the future build-out of renewables.
In neighbouring Norway, Ramboll is collaborating with Statnett, the national transmission system operator, to strengthen the country’s electrical grid and support its green energy transition. We are assisting Statnett in increasing the capacity of the electrical grid by providing design and engineering services for several projects.
Norway’s power consumption is expected to rise by more than 50% by 2050. A massive expansion of the country’s electrical grid is needed to meet that demand.
Along with a significant increase in power generation, a larger grid would help the growth of new and existing businesses that have ambitious plans for decarbonisation and electrification.
By combining our expertise in designing world-class science facilities with sustainability insights, we are helping clients stay at the forefront of research and innovation – from quantum computing to life sciences.
Once such facility will be an advanced laboratory for the world’s first fully functional quantum computer, to be built at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen.
Funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the computer is expected to perform complicated calculations at unprecedented speed and scale. This could have applications in the development of new medicines or provide insights into tackling climate change and supporting the green energy transition.
As the full-service consultancy for the project, Ramboll will work with partners to create facilities, where elements such as design, temperature, humidity, and structural stability play crucial roles.
“With expertise in highly complex and multidisciplinary facility design, and sustainability impact, we are proud to play an important role in the creation of these unique science facilities, which will enable break-through scientific discoveries that benefit people worldwide.”
Our expertise will also come into play in the development of a new laboratory facility for cell therapy called Novo Nordisk Foundation Cellerator, situated at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the facility will help translate breakthroughs in cell therapy research into real-world treatments for people with diseases such as chronic heart failure, Parkinson’s, kidney disease, type 1 diabetes, and several forms of cancer.
Cell-therapy development requires unique and complex conditions. Factors such as laboratory designs, temperature control, and complete cleanliness play important roles. The site includes laboratories, Good Manufacturing Practice suites, and office spaces, and aims to be DGNB Gold certified to meet the highest sustainability criteria for buildings.
Sustainability and science also go hand-in-hand for One North Quay, which is expected to become Europe’s largest commercial health and life sciences building. Once built, it will help meet the fast-growing need for dedicated sustainable commercial life sciences spaces in London. Located in Canary Wharf, the 23-storey building design uses a novel lower carbon structures plan, which sets a new benchmark for limiting the embodied carbon in vibration-sensitive technical buildings. Ramboll was appointed as structural and vibration engineers on the project, working in close collaboration with Canary Wharf Group and Kadans Science Partner to significantly reduce the carbon impact of the building.
“We are proud of our contribution to this project, using our unique expertise in life sciences construction and applying a systematic approach to cut the embodied carbon of the structure throughout the design stages.”
The structure of the building itself is, on average, responsible for 50% of the embodied carbon. Through continuous assessment, design refinement, and the use of digital tools during the design process, the Ramboll project team prevented emissions of 20,000 tons of CO2 equivalents structural upfront embodied carbon. This equates to a 50% reduction in embodied carbon within the structure and is the equivalent of 9,000 individuals taking a round-trip flight from London to New York.
Credit: Kiasm and Cityscape for KPF
Heidelberg Materials, one of the world’s largest cement producers, has set an ambitious goal to reduce its carbon footprint – and help meet Sweden’s net-zero ambitions.
Cement production has a high carbon footprint due to high fuel consumption and the process of converting limestone into clinker. Today, the industry accounts for approximately 8% of global CO2 emissions. To reduce emissions, producers use several strategies, such as improving energy efficiency, increasing use of bioenergy, and replacing part of the limestone clincker with other materials.
Currently, a viable solution at hand to decarbonise a cement plant is through carbon capture – the process of capturing CO2 and storing it, or using it in production, e.g. of renewable fuels. With Ramboll’s help, Heidelberg Materials aims to capture all CO2 emissions from its plant in Slite, Sweden, by 2030.
“Carbon capture is fundamental for hard-to-abate industries like cement factories in a world where we need all hands-on deck to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit temperature increases. It might well be their license to operate.”
Heidelberg Materials aims to capture up to 1.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions from its Slite plant annually, corresponding to approximately 3% of Sweden’s total emissions. Ramboll provides expertise including investigating capture facilities, energy recovery optimisation, buffer storage, and logistics solutions to manage the captured CO2. We also provide a range of other technical services to develop the entire site for carbon capture storage, e.g. harbour facilities.
In Norway and Finland, urban light rail projects could prove to be a crucial lever in getting commuters to choose collective transport and leave their cars at home.
The Jokeri Light Rail is a 25-kilometre-long light rail line connecting Helsinki with Espoo, and it is a significant stride towards lower carbon transportation for Finland’s capital region.
Inaugurated in October 2023, the light rail replaces the region’s busiest bus line and is expected to serve around 90,000 passengers on a typical workday in 2030, which is more than double the number of passengers served today.
“Jokeri Light Rail is the first light rail connection in the Helsinki region. Rail connections are instrumental in building a carbon neutral public transport system for the metropolitan area. Moreover, they are accelerating urban development by providing increased line of sight related to land use for investors and developers.”
The light rail is expected to reduce GHG emissions and support Finland’s net-zero ambitions. Specifically, it is expected to reduce 85% CO2 and 95% NO2 emissions compared to the bus line. By encouraging use of public transport, the project is expected to reduce 70% of pollutants caused by car traffic.
The Jokeri Light Rail line is also a part of the sustainable growth plan for the capital region. New housing and workplaces are being built along the light rail line, and there will be approximately two million residents and over a million jobs in the capital region in 2050. Ramboll led a team of partners to deliver the design, creating solutions to enable cost savings while helping to preserve biodiversity.
Credit: Raide-Jokeri
Meanwhile in neighbouring Norway, Ramboll is working with partners for client Bybanen Utbygging for project planning of the urban light rail, Bybanen, from Bergen city centre to the Åsane district. The light rail is key to achieving safe, efficient, and low-carbon collective transport in Norway’s second biggest city – and reduce further growth in car traffic.
Together with our partners, we are responsible for project planning of the fifth phase of the project from Bergen city centre to Åsane. The 12.7-kilomtre-long light rail line to Åsane is expected to cater to 60,000 people daily in 2040.
The project is complex owing to a battery-powered track, an underground stop, and the route passing through a dense urban area with heavy traffic and commercial activity.
The project also focuses on urban development around the railway stations, with the aim to include new bicycle and walking paths along the entire route, and the extension of a mountain tunnel to support urban life in Bergen.
Population growth, climate change, and erratic weather patterns are impacting global food supply. Singapore currently imports 90% of its food, making it vulnerable to these trends. That is why the country is taking an innovative approach to strengthen its local food production and secure a resilient food future.
With less than 1% of land allocated to agriculture, Singapore aims to grow more local food through the Lim Chu Kang Concept Masterplan, an exercise to transform the area into a highly productive and resource-efficient agricultural food cluster. It will contribute to Singapore’s 30 by 30 vision, which aims to develop the capability and capacity of the local agri-food industry to produce 30% of the country’s nutritional needs by 2030.
Ramboll and Henning Larsen are working with partners and the Singapore Food Agency to develop the masterplan.
“We are honoured to be entrusted by the Singapore Food Agency with this transformative project that will contribute to the resilience of our country. The project sets a leading example that can be adopted to other major cities facing similar challenges.”
The masterplan includes solutions such as stacked farms to optimise land use, a district cooling facility to provide cooling needs for farms and reduce energy consumption, and a centralised waste treatment facility to process farm waste collected from the district and reduce the negative impact on the environment.
Credit: MKPL Architects Pte Ltd.