The Energy Agency's announcement on Monday that offshore wind turbine projects under the open door scheme have been put on hold will have "very little impact" on Denmark's climate goals if they have to be scrapped. That's what Climate, Energy and Supply Minister Lars Aagaard (M) says.
- Because what is decisive for how much CO2 we send into the atmosphere is how much fossil energy we burn. This means that it is more a question of what kind of cars we drive, how we heat our houses, what kind of industry we have and what kind of agricultural production we have, says Lars Aagaard.
- The serious issue here is not our climate goals, but our long-term ability to produce green energy, which we and Europe need.
At the industry organization Green Power Denmark, however, the tone is different. Here, the pausing of a total of 33 applications for offshore wind turbine projects, because the open door scheme might be in breach of EU law, is called a "huge stomach-churner".
- We are in a situation where we urgently need green power for our 2030 climate goals, Power-to-X ambitions and goal of becoming a net exporter of green power, says CEO Kristian Jensen in a press release .
Amazed by sudden legal doubt
The open door scheme, where private actors can take the initiative to build offshore wind farms without government support, has existed since 1999. Therefore, a number of business organizations are surprised that doubts about the scheme are only now emerging.
- I also ask myself that, and I have therefore asked for an explanation of the process from my ministry, agrees Lars Aagaard, he continues:
- The scheme has existed for many years. What has changed, however, is that recently we have seen a huge demand for projects, which is far, far greater than we have seen in previous years. This is, among other things, what leads to the concern about illegal state aid being raised, because there has been so much demand in the market.
The minister is currently unable to say when a clarification is expected. He has raised questions with the EU Commission and the commission's Danish vice-president, Margrethe Vestager. But he believes "the public has a right to insight into" what has led to Monday's decision from the authorities.
/ritzau/
Text, graphics, images, sound, and other content on this website are protected under copyright law. DK Medier reserves all rights to the content, including the right to exploit the content for the purpose of text and data mining, cf. Section 11b of the Copyright Act and Article 4 of the DSM Directive.
Customers with IP agreements/major customer agreements may only share Danish Offshore Industry articles internally for the purpose of handling specific cases. Sharing in connection with specific cases refers to journaling, archiving, or similar uses.
Customers with a personal subscription/login may not share Danish Offshore Industry articles with individuals who do not themselves have a personal subscription to Danish Offshore Industry.
Any deviation from the above requires written consent from DK Medier.
