DEA Alters Open-Door Offshore Wind Process, Wind Denmark Reacts

The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) has decided that a further round of environmental impact consultations is required before an establishment permit is granted for open-door offshore wind projects.

The decision comes after the Energy Board of Appeal last year canceled a part of the license for the construction of Vattenfall’s Vesterhav Syd project and a new environmental impact assessment (EIA) process was initiated.

In the future, DEA stated it will always conduct public consultation on the specific EIA and draft establishment permit when a developer applies for the permit.

This applies to all current and future offshore wind projects under the open-door scheme, both those that have not yet received a final establishment permit and those which are far into the administrative process.

Wind Denmark has reacted to the decision stating that the new procedure is an added burden as it is costly and delays the green transition.

“Developers of the open-door projects have worked up to seven years and invested considerable sums in preparing these projects,” said Jan Hylleberg, CEO of Wind Denmark. “With this change, we risk that up to 500MW of offshore wind is now delayed another two to three years.”

DEA recently launched a technology-neutral tender calling for bids for the development of open-door offshore wind, onshore wind and solar PV power.

In the tendering scheme, DKK 258 million (circa EUR 34.56 million) has been allocated, with the support set to be given as a fixed price supplement on top of the electricity price for 20 years.