René Christensen (DF) has left national politics for a top job as director of Dansk Akvakultur. However, he has not completely given up politics, as he is still a member of the city council on his home island of Falster, where he is deputy mayor and, among other things, chairman of the Employment and Business Committee.
Nysted Offshore Wind Farm has just turned 20, and it has its service center in Gedser, and there are 22 good workplaces for the municipality, where most employees live within half an hour's drive of their workplace, as the operations manager has told DOI.dk.
Service centers for wind farms are something many municipalities are fighting hard to get, and this is about jobs and prestige.
- Ørsted is a world-leading company, and the jobs are good. And Ørsted also has some really nice buildings at the port of Gedser. Most people do not perceive Nysted as part of Falster and Guldborgsund Municipality because of the name Nysted, which is located on Falster, says René Christensen, who also remembers how offshore wind was viewed 20 years ago:
- Today, people do not think that Nysted Offshore Wind Farm is there. But back then, there was a stir among the population about the offshore wind farm.
That is no longer the case; on the contrary, the wind farm has become a small tourist attraction.
- There are seal safaris from both Gedser and Nysted, and I know that Nysted Offshore Wind Farm is also a small attraction on the trip, says René Christensen.
Gedser is otherwise a town that needs development with housing and more jobs. The deputy mayor is aware of this.
- We have tried different things for many years to create development. Gedser has beautiful nature and you can get a sea view. I often come to Gedser on bike rides, says René Christensen, who himself lives relatively close to Gedser in Marielyst.
He is also unsure about what makes people move.
- People move for work or a nice girlfriend. Those are the things that are needed, he says.
No new turbines south of Gedser
Therefore, there are also several things that annoy the politician a little bit.
- There was talk of demarcating another area here south of Gedser for wind turbines, but that was changed by the government. Now the area is demarcated for raw material extraction. That means gravel and sand, explains René Christensen.
But there is also another chance that could have been almost as good.
- We were in the running to become a service port for Kriegers Flak with Stubbekøbing Port. But Klintholm won because the port is just closer to the park. Kriegers Flak is just a completely different size, and the development in Klintholm Port has been enormous. I'm also thinking of hotels and restaurants here. It's not hocus pocus, and it also provides development on land when such a large offshore wind farm is built, says René Christensen.
Kriegers Flak was put into production in 2021 and has a capacity of 604 MW, whereas Nysted Havmølle Park has a capacity of almost a quarter with 165.6 MW.
Another local perspective is the municipality's green accounts.
- I would like green energy to be included in our municipal climate accounts. That's not the case today, concludes René Christensen.
Ørsted's service center for Nysted Offshore Wind Farm has gathered 22 employees, all of whom come from the local area. The picture here is from a late Sunday evening, when there is not as much activity as on weekdays. Photo: Jesper Ernlund Lassen/ DOI.dk.
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.
