The largest offshore wind tender in Danish history has ended without a bid, which the Hydrogen Industry calls a serious setback for the green transition. According to the organization, political action is needed if future tenders are to succeed. According to the Hydrogen Industry, the uncertainty about a Danish hydrogen infrastructure in particular has played a decisive role in the failure. This is what the Hydrogen Industry writes in a press release.
The organization describes the situation as serious and with potentially long-term consequences for Denmark's green ambitions.
- It is a black day for green Denmark. At a minimum, this failed tender round means a delay in the establishment of new offshore wind farms. Even worse, the great ambitions for the North Sea as Europe's green powerhouse have now been dashed. Of course, the tender must now be re-run, but if the state does not guarantee the establishment of hydrogen infrastructure in that process, we risk ending up in the same place again, says Tejs Laustsen Jensen, CEO of Brintbranchen.
He emphasizes that offshore wind and hydrogen production are closely related, and that a lack of hydrogen infrastructure has made investments too uncertain for developers.
– There is a very close relationship between offshore wind and hydrogen. The business case for offshore wind – and in particular for overplanting – will only become sufficiently attractive with the possibility of large-scale hydrogen production. But hydrogen production on that scale requires infrastructure, and the uncertainty about the hydrogen infrastructure has simply made the investment too uncertain for offshore wind developers, he says.
According to the Hydrogen Industry, the solution requires a political effort that both removes the uncertainties and ensures progress.
– Now the task for politicians is to untie this Gordian knot, and this can only be done if the state recognizes the seriousness of the lack of new offshore wind and hydrogen production. Therefore, the state must now guarantee that hydrogen infrastructure is established, so that there is security for project developers, and the state should also provide construction support, as is done in the Netherlands, among others. This also means that the booking requirement for the hydrogen industry must be completely removed, says Tejs Laustsen Jensen.
At the same time, he warns against using state support for offshore wind as a solution to the challenges, as this can have unintended consequences.
– State support is an important and absolutely necessary tool in green development. But supporting offshore wind directly will not be the right answer. If, from a political perspective, you choose to respond to today's failure by providing state support for offshore wind now, you will de facto kill all possibilities for a green hydrogen adventure in Denmark and for good utilization of green electricity, he says.
He also points to EU regulations that could worsen the situation if state support for offshore wind is introduced.
– Our greatest advantage in the European and global hydrogen race is that Denmark can produce green hydrogen that can be classified as RFNBO under the EU. But the EU rules are clear: If state aid is provided for the offshore wind that will be used to produce the hydrogen, we will lose the RFNBO stamp, and the Danish hydrogen cannot be used to meet the green EU ambitions for, among other things, industry and transport, and the business case is thus destroyed, says Tejs Laustsen Jensen.
In conclusion, he calls for rapid action to reverse the trend.
– The best thing you can do for the Danish offshore wind expansion is to speed up the establishment of the hydrogen backbone. This is an absolutely crucial prerequisite if we are to quickly turn today's failure into success, he says.
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