Report: Denmark Mulling Offshore Wind Subsidies Cut

Danish energy minister Lars Christian Lilleholt will submit a proposal to cut subsidies for offshore wind projects in the second half of 2017, Bloomberg reports.

The wind industry is showing signs of being able to compete with conventional power generation sources such as fossil fuels, but for the industry to be really competitive, subsidies must go, Lilleholt was reported as saying.

Lilleholt said that phasing out of subsidies is one of the pre-requisites in the country’s transition to green energy.

Behind the proposal is a conviction that wind energy will prevail as a more competitive power supply than fossil fuels, Lilleholt said, adding that the switch is already happening.

Denmark plans to meet all of its energy needs with electricity generated by renewable sources by 2050, and is already covering 40% of its electricity needs through wind.

The country is also home to the world’s cheapest offshore wind projects.

In November 2016, Sweden’s Vattenfall won the right to build and operate the 600MW Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm with a record low bid of 37.2 Danish øre/kWh, (EUR 0.05/kWh)

The Swedish utility has also won the tender for the near shore wind farms Vesterhav Nord and Vesterhav Sydproject a bid of 47.5 Danish øre/kWh.

Some of the largest offshore wind developers and turbine manufacturers, such as DONG Energy and MHI Vestas, are based in Denmark.