The Danish Government’s new marine plan has excluded the allocation of space for future offshore wind farms under the country’s open door scheme, resulting in the suspension of the majority of projects.
The majority of parties in the Danish Parliament have proposed a new marine plan that expands the area of Denmark’s sea available for renewable energy projects and energy islands from approximately 15% to around 30%.
However, this plan does not designate any space for projects that have not yet been approved under Denmark’s open door scheme. Consequently, any applications that have not been assigned an area will be denied a preliminary investigation permit.
Three pending open door projects, namely Kadet Banke, Paludan Flak, and Vikinge Banke, have already had their areas specified. These projects will proceed through the permitting process, as the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy, and Utilities intends to modify the open door scheme to ensure compliance with EU regulations.
Additionally, six projects had previously been evaluated and approved under the existing open door scheme.
A total of 33 projects were under assessment as part of Denmark’s open door scheme. The process was halted in February due to concerns about potential violations of EU law, but six cases resumed processing in March.
The decision has sparked protests from companies operating in Denmark’s offshore wind sector.
Andreas Karhula Lauridsen, Head of offshore wind at European Energy, said that decision made by the government regarding the open door projects “is very unfortunate.”
“The open door scheme could have ensured subsidy-free renewable energy for Denmark and green jobs in the local municipalities that were involved in the projects.”
“We have obtained full support from all the municipalities where we have applied to establish new coastal offshore wind turbine projects. The local support for the projects in Stevns, Guldborgsund, Frederikshavn, Hjørring, Lolland, and Tønder is something we have worked on for a long time.
“It has been a requirement from the authorities that local governments should be consulted in this process – and we are puzzled that this local anchoring of renewable energy projects now seems to mean nothing.”
“It is not just two years of wasted work in the service of the green transition, but also a significant blow to the ambitious Danish municipalities that had relied on utilising their local offshore wind resources to support green growth, power-to-X projects, and the prospect of green jobs.”
“The expansion of green energy has come to a complete halt in Denmark, and today’s announcement from the government once again goes against the clear mandate that the Danish people gave to the politicians in the climate election of 2019, which was to accelerate the green transition and the deployment of renewable energy.”
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