The Danish Energy Agency has suspended the processing of offshore wind turbine projects and other renewable energy projects under the country’s 20GW open door scheme.
The process has been put on hold until further clarification of EU legal issues. The Ministry of Climate, Energy, and Supply has determined that granting permits for offshore wind turbine projects and other renewable energy projects under the "open door" scheme may violate EU law after consulting with the government's State Aid Secretariat. As a result, the Danish Energy Agency has put all pending cases under the open door scheme on hold until the scheme's relationship to EU law is thoroughly investigated. The same will apply to any new applications. The Danish Energy Agency has informed the relevant parties involved and will continue to communicate with them about the further process for the individual cases.
Pausing this established and effective scheme creates investment uncertainty for 20 GW of offshore wind currently under planning and development. It seriously undermines Denmark’s 2030 targets.
Just last week the European Commission announced changes to its state aid guidelines to support Member States on renewables - as part of the EU’s wider Green Deal Industry Pact.
Under the “open door” procedure, developers of new offshore wind farms can currently apply for the development of offshore wind farms on their own initiative. This provides them with greater flexibility in choosing a project location, defining the generation capacity of their project and arranging its grid connection. Under the “open door” procedure developers can also locate their projects close to areas with large electricity demand to facilitate corporate renewable PPAs with industrial off-takers. There is no public subsidy involved in the Danish “open door” scheme.
