On 1. December 2021, the first tendering procedure for offshore wind energy in Denmark without state aid was completed. It was widely celebrated in Denmark as it marked a milestone in Danish offshore wind policy – 30 years after Denmark constructed the first offshore wind farm in 1991.
The current success of the Danish offshore industry can be extracted from these 30 years of history. We invented the technology and created a market, as well as the first companies, by means of state subsidies. However, Denmark has yet to harvest the economic fruits of its visionary wind policy, and the rest of Europe is critically important in this regard.
Two things are particularly important if we want to maintain Europe’s lead on wind power: volume and market-based competition. We need a large home market, the European market, and we need a large European wind industry that is capable of competing without subsidies. While state aid is useful to kick things off, it becomes a burden in the long run.
Other important factors in building the competitive Danish market about to explode on the waters surrounding Denmark have been to secure transparency and flexibility for investors. Stakeholders are invited to market dialogues to discuss the tender material, and full flexibility is given to design the wind farm.
You can read the full opinion in BalticWind.EU Quarterly Country Report Poland Q4 2022.
