The Danish government pledges to commission a 9GW offshore wind tender as a part of efforts to quintuple domestic offshore wind capacity by 2030.

9GW is equivalent to the electricity consumption of 9 million households, and as a result Denmark will provide energy flows to several parts of Europe.

”Possibilities for offshore endeavors are great here in Denmark, and that is why we now embark on negotiations on expanding current capacity by 9GW.”

”My ambition is to start negotiations during March, and I hope to tender the entire capacity within the year,” says Danish Minister of Energy Lars Aagaard.

The 9GW stem from a climate agreement brokered in June 2022, passed by a majority of the Danish parliament.

The minister plans to explore possibilities of placing the wind turbines closer to each other in order to maybe install more than the currently allotted 9GW. Current assessments maintain that capacity could go up substantially as a result.

”Our estimations deem it possible. Potentially, if we are to work out a proper model and get the rest of parliament on board, then I expect that we could expand further than current projections of 9GW,” says Aagaard.

The announcement of the new 9W tender is to be viewed in the light of the open-door ordinance having been put on hold on account of the risk of violating EU subsidy regulations.

The open-door scheme grants developers access to seabed sites free of charge insofar as developers take on all related costs. However, offshore wind has become a lucrative business prompting developers to pay for site access.

Moreover, the government still waives confirmation of plans to charge developers concession fees in the future.

”Well, it is the Danish people’s money, and while I certainly consider myself green, I’m also a broker on behalf of the Danes,” says the minister.

”Our main priority is saving as many projects as possible. We need to assess the ordinance in its entirety to see if adjustments are in order, and then will we be able to answer more specifically how to set things up, including potential concession payments,” concludes Aagaard.