It came out of the blue when several projects with offshore wind turbines off the Danish coast were put on hold at the beginning of February. The reason was a doubt as to whether the open door scheme, under which permission to build the projects had been applied for, was in breach of EU law.
Now two of the projects that have so far been put on hold will be allowed to continue the process. This is stated by the Danish Energy Agency in a press release. In total, the case processing was put on hold for 33 projects. The remaining 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 the fall of 2022. And it has now been assessed that these permits are not in conflict with EU law.
The open door scheme is one of the ways in which you can get permission to establish an offshore wind farm in Denmark. Here, players can apply to get sea areas without payment if they themselves are responsible for all the costs associated with the offshore wind turbines.
However, unlike before, offshore wind has now become big business, and therefore it could potentially be a bad business to give the areas away for free. The other option is a tender where the state wants to have a project built.
Organisations want the entire scheme to be reopened
According to Kristian Jensen, CEO of the industry organisation Green Power Denmark, it is good that the case processing of two projects is now continuing. But it is not good enough. He wants the scheme to be fully opened. In the first instance, 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 of money preparing the projects in the confidence that the state will comply with the applicable rules, he says in a written comment.
The Confederation of 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 of renewable energy. Everyone agrees on this, and therefore we see today's announcement as a bright spot in a problematic case.
/ritzau/
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