It came out of the blue when, at the beginning of February, several projects with offshore wind turbines off the Danish coast were put on hold. The reason was a doubt as to whether the open door scheme, under which permission to build the projects had been sought, was in breach of EU law.
Now two of the projects that have been put on hold until now will be allowed to continue the process. This is stated by the Danish Energy Agency in a press release. In total, case processing was put on hold for 33 projects. The other 31 projects will be assessed as soon as possible, it is stated.
It is the case processing of the Aflandshage offshore wind farm and Frederikshavn projects that is now being resumed. The two projects had received establishment permits in autumn 2022. And it has now been assessed that the permits are not in breach of EU law.
The open door scheme is one of the ways in which permission to establish an offshore wind farm can be obtained in Denmark. Here, actors can apply for offshore areas without payment, if they themselves bear all the costs in connection with the offshore wind turbines.
However, unlike in the past, offshore wind has now become a big business, and therefore it could potentially be bad business to give away the areas for free. The other option is a tender where the state wants to build a project.
Organisations want the whole scheme reopened
According to Kristian Jensen, managing director of the industry organization Green Power Denmark, it is good that the case processing of two projects is now continuing. But that's not good enough. He wants the scheme fully opened. Initially, however, the government should approve many more applications:
- There are a number of projects where the application was submitted between six and eleven years ago, and the developers have spent large sums on preparing the projects in the confidence that the state will comply with the applicable rules, he says in a written comment .
Danish Industry also believes that this is a small step in the right direction. However, a quick clarification is needed, writes deputy director Troels Ranis in a comment:
- Denmark's green transition requires a massive expansion with renewable energy. Everyone agrees on that, and therefore we see today's announcement as a bright spot in a problematic case.
/ritzau/
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