March 3, 2014
Denmark

Energy minister ready to scrap offshore wind farms

The Copenhagen Post | March 3, 2014 | cphpost.dk

The cost of wind energy needs to drop, or the government will not be building any more wind farms in the future. Rasmus Petersen (R), the climate and energy minister, said that although the government wants more energy from wind farms, it is not willing to pay any price for it.

“I am sorry that the price of power from the Anholt Offshore Wind Farm is so high,” Petersen told Jyllands-Posten newspaper. “I think it is too much to pay 1.05 kroner per kilowatt-hour (kWh). We need to have a clear objective that energy from future offshore wind farms be significantly lower in price.”

The Anholt Offshore Wind Farm in the Kattegat, the country’s largest, was built by Dong Energy in 2009. It was the only bidder and wound up getting the 1.05 kroner per kWh price for the first 20 billion kilowatt hours it sent ashore.

Customers pay the price

That price compares to a current market price of 0.25 kroner per kWh. The difference in price is covered by the company and customers via the green electricity tax, the PSO levy, to the tune of 1.3 billion kroner annually.

The high price has made Petersen willing to take two planned projects off the table.

A recent environmental /economic report agreed that the wind farms are currently costing too much.

“It makes sense to reconsider the decision to build the two wind farms, or to postpone them until the price is significantly lower than the existing wind farm,” read the report.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/03/03/energy-minister-ready-to-scrap-offshore-wind-farms/