Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities Lars Aagaard (M) hopes that the Danish open door scheme can be adjusted so that it complies with the EU's rules on state aid.
- We will go to the Commission with a request to adjust the model, says Lars Aagaard before a Danish climate summit at Marienborg on Wednesday.
But he does not believe that all 27 of the paused projects under the scheme will be established. This is stated in the government's proposal "Green Action".
- In an adjusted scheme, the areas should be put out to competition, for example via tenders, so that we can set a fair price for our common sea areas. Some of the projects may conflict with other activities at sea, including defense, fishing, nature and raw material extraction. We are investigating which projects we can continue to work on, the proposal states.
Instead, the adjustment of the scheme should "seek to enable some remaining projects to be established". It is not clear when the minister expects to have a clarification in the case.
Pause shocked the industry
The open door scheme - subsidy-free offshore wind - is a model where companies can apply to be allocated offshore areas without payment. In return, they must bear all costs for the development and construction of the project themselves.
The Danish energy industry was shocked when the authorities put the open door scheme on hold on February 6, 2023. Since then, six projects have been allowed to start up again and continue processing the case.
A report in March to Lars Aagaard about the process surrounding the open door scheme showed that it was a possible desire to charge for subsidy-free offshore wind that led to the projects being put on hold. In a climate agreement of June 2022, a political majority expressed a desire for "the greatest possible income and benefit" for society.
This led to the Ministry of Climate asking the Danish Energy Agency to look at the possibility of taking money for the projects as a kind of due diligence, if this were to become a political desire.
Significant risk of illegal state aid
The Danish Energy Agency concluded in October 2022 that it would be legally possible to introduce payment for the use of the sea area. This also applied to other requirements, but it would require a change in law. In December 2022, the Danish Energy Agency initially assessed that there was no illegal state aid.
However, after meetings with several authorities, it led in February to an assessment that there was a "significant risk" that unsubsidized offshore wind could be considered illegal state aid.
The scheme has existed for around 25 years without the assessment having been made. It is therefore not the EU Commission that has initiated the case or made the assessment.
Lars Aagaard says at Marienborg that he was in dialogue with the Danish Competition Commissioner in the EU Commission, Margrethe Vestager, about the case on Wednesday.
/ritzau/
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