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REM: Danish government to take 20% stake in new offshore wind farms

The Danish state will take a 20% ownership stake in 6 GW of offshore wind farms, said the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities.

This will occur over the next decade.

"As the market for offshore wind has become much more favourable in recent years, the (terms) will ensure that society also gets a piece of the common resource, which is the Danish sea area," said the ministry in a statement.

The 6 GW could be expanded to 14 GW, six times as much as is offshore today, but initially 6 GW will be tendered. The wind farms are expected to contribute green hydrogen and PtX products to Denmark and other parts of Europe.

"The agreement makes Denmark greener. When the turbines are spinning, we can cover all our electricity consumption with green power – even to such an extent that we can also contribute to Europe's green transition and security of supply,” said Denmark’s Climate, Energy and Supply Minister, Lars Aagaard.

“We can now finally give the market the green light for the development of potentially 14 GW of offshore wind or more – and most of them the state and Danes will for the first time become co-owners of and thus get a share of the actual income from offshore wind,” he said.

The government will also invest $2.60bn in the planned 3-GW energy island at Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, said the ministry.

It is an innovation that the state must own 20% of the future offshore wind farms. It has not been tested anywhere in the world, and Green Power Denmark has warned against that experiment, said Kristian Jensen, CEO of the industry body.