The tender for at least 3 GW of offshore wind turbines in the North Sea off Hvide Sande, which the Danish Energy Agency published in April this year, received exactly zero bids. This is what the Port of Hvide Sande and Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality wrote in a press release.
In other words, not a single project provider was interested in erecting the future state-owned offshore wind turbines in the North Sea when the deadline expired on Thursday. Or at least not interested in erecting offshore wind turbines on the terms that the state had demanded in the tender documents, including 20 percent state ownership and a fixed annual concession payment over 30 years for the right to use the sea area.
And that annoys Mayor Hans Østergaard of Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality, which has a coastline facing the area where the offshore wind turbines were to be erected.
- It is now clear to everyone that man-made climate change is affecting people all over the globe. We need more renewable energy to turn the tide. In addition, I am convinced that the offshore wind turbines will fill up the order books of the many companies in Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality, which have specialized in producing components for renewable energy plants, says the mayor.
Hans Østergaard points out that the green energy from the offshore wind turbines is necessary if Denmark is to reduce CO2 emissions by 70 percent by 2030 and adds:
- I am disappointed that the offshore wind turbines are now being delayed, but I note that the Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities has asked the Danish Energy Agency to enter into dialogue with providers who have previously shown interest in erecting wind turbines in the North Sea. In my opinion, it is beyond any doubt that the state has to send the offshore wind farms in the North Sea out for another bidding round. And preferably very quickly.
At Hvide Sande Port, port director Mogens Pedersen is also disappointed that no bids were received to erect wind turbines in the sea off Hvide Sande:
- We are the port on the west coast that is closest to all three state areas in the North Sea1 – and every nautical mile matters when you have to transport people out to operate and service the turbines over the next 30 years or so. To put it mildly, we also have such good experience servicing the Vesterhav Syd and Vesterhav Nord turbines that we must be the obvious service port for anyone who might now like to bid on the offshore turbines. Therefore, it obviously also means something for the activities here at the port of Hvide Sande if the project providers cannot see a business case for installing offshore wind turbines in the North Sea areas, explains Mogens Pedersen.
The Danish Energy Agency has not yet announced whether and, if so, when there will be a new bidding round for the up to 3 GW offshore wind turbines in the North Sea.
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