Danish government rejects three offshore wind farm projects

The Danish government has rejected the last three offshore wind farm projects whose developers sought support under the open-door scheme. The government says Denmark is still on track to meet its ambitious offshore wind energy targets by the end of the decade.

Developers of all three projects submitted applications to build their wind farms through the so-called open-door scheme. It allows the government to support renewable energy projects outside the traditional auction system.

However, the Danish ministry suspended the scheme this year over concerns that it could breach EU state aid rules. The applications from all developers were therefore put on hold.

"We have examined all the options for adjusting the open-door scheme so that it could help rapidly secure the generation of more green electricity before 2030. Unfortunately, it turned out that this is not possible," climate and energy minister Lars Aagaard said, according to Montel.

Aagaard also said the country was still on track to meet its target of increasing installed offshore wind capacity by 16 GW by 2030. State-organised auctions are expected to play a key role in delivering an approximately sevenfold increase in current installed capacity.

According to industry group Green Power Denmark, it is now important for the government to introduce an alternative support scheme that could help the country meet its climate targets alongside the auctions.