Denmark Set for Largest Offshore Wind Tender of 9 GW Capacity

Wind Industry Experts Bat For Extending PLI For Component Makers 

Denmark has set sights on its largest offshore wind tender of 9 GW capacity. This has potential to expand to 14 GW or more, as per the Danish Energy Agency. The capacity requirements are to be met by the conclusion of 2030. 14 million households in Denmark and Europe stand to benefit with supply of green energy as result of the tender.

The Danish government has signed various agreements to lay the framework for the upcoming auctions. Agreements have been signed for 6 GW of capacity at the North Sea I (minimum 3 GW), Kattegat II (minimum 1 GW), Kriegers Flak II (minimum 1 GW), and Hesselø (800 MW–1.2 GW) offshore wind areas. Another 3 GW will be at the Bornholm Energy Island. The Danish government and political parties SF, Liberal Alliance, Conservative People’s Party, Red-Green Alliance, Danish Social Liberal Party, Danish People’s Party and The Alternative have joined hands with the Danish government for these auctions.

Tender Trajectory

The 9 GW of new offshore wind capacity will be auctioned off by the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities in February 2024.

In 2022, a climate agreement was reached in the Danish Parliament. In 2020, a pact on Energy Island Bornholm of 2 GW was also signed. Later, this capacity was augmented to 3 GW. The tender capacity was fixed at 9 GW with capacity from the Energy Agreement 2018 and the Finance Act 2022.

Business Minister Morten Bødskov said, “It is a historic day in every way. With the agreement, we are utilizing and developing our position of strength within offshore wind on a historically large scale. This must be done in cooperation between the state and business.” He added, “It will be very specific: the parties to the agreement agree that the state must be a co-owner of the individual offshore wind farms. To ensure that Danish society gets a fair share of the future income when our shared ocean resource is used for offshore wind. The co-ownership is a sign of confidence for the developers that the government wants to invest in the green transition – together with them and for the benefit of the whole society.”

The signatories of the agreement are to ensure that the Danish society gets a claim in the shared resource through the bidders’ concession payment together with the state co-ownership of 20% of 6 GW tenders.

India-Denmark Cooperation

Denmark and India are strongly cooperating in the wind energy sector. In March this year, Denmark-based investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has joined hands with Indian firm that develops wind projects, Viviid Renewables for the establishment of over 1.8 GW of renewable energy capacity in India. The Indian firm and the Danish firm will start be setting up two onshore wind farms that will boast of capacity exceeding 500 MW. The same month saw the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-Madras) entering into a pact with Denmark to conduct research projects on next-generation fuels and energy systems under the ‘Indo-Danish Green Strategic Partnership’.

Last year, The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) and India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) published an offshore wind plan for 15 locations in India. The initiative was a part of the Centre of Excellence for Offshore Wind and Renewable Energy, a joint initiative by the two countries.