EXPRESS #3 - July 3, 2018
Denmark adopts Energy Agreement with strong ambitions in offshore wind
Denmark has unveiled a bipartisan national Energy Agreement that includes 2.4GW of further offshore wind power by 2030 and a DKr4.2bn (€560 million) support pool for onshore renewables such as wind and solar, reports Recharge News.
The plan – agreed by Denmark’s politicians after cross-party negotiations – “seeks to propel the nation to a share of renewables of 55% in overall energy consumption. It also states that three planned new offshore arrays will cover the electricity needs of all Danish households by the end of the next decade.”
The first of the offshore wind projects, with 800MW of capacity, would be built by 2027 under the agreement, writes Recharge. “The wind farm would be Denmark’s largest offshore array, surpassing Vattenfall’s 600MW Kriegers Flak that is due to be completed by 2021.”
“It is very positive that the accord ensures that there is now an agreement to build three large offshore wind farms by 2030 and a continued expansion of onshore wind,” said Jan Hylleberg, chief executive of the Danish wind power association DWEA.
He added “that the plans are crucial to cement Denmark’s strong position in the wind industry, which has led to 33,000 jobs in the sector as well as billions in export revenue.”
“With the agreement, Denmark becomes part of a select number of European countries extending their offshore wind plans through 2030 and thus giving the sector a more predictable annual expansion volume”, notes Recharge. “The Netherlands earlier this year pledged to widen the country’s offshore wind expansion to 1GW per year from 2024 on (from 700MW through 2023), and Germany has a schedule to boost its offshore capacity to 15GW by 2030 from 5.4GW at the end of last year, although there is an ongoing discussion to expand that target.”
The Danish government “said it expects the new offshore wind projects to be able to proceed on a subsidy-free basis, with the exception of costs for grid connection. That would help towards reaching another goal of the energy agreement, to substantially lower fees Danish consumers pay for green electricity and heating, the energy ministry said.”
The DKr4.2bn support pool “will be used for technology-neutral auctions open to onshore wind and solar projects competing on price.”
The Energy Plan also “covers a wide range of energy efficiency and research initiatives, which the government said confirms Denmark as ‘a pioneer country in energy and climate’ and will give long-term visibility and confidence to investors. In heating, the government with changed policies aims to support investments in more heat pumps, biomass and geothermal energy.”
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