Denmark has on Monday launched its biggest offshore wind tender, without offering any subsidies, to companies competing for the right to erect turbines on six sites with a combined capacity of up to 10 gigawatt (GW), the energy and climate ministry said, as gathered by Reuters.
The wind farms, to be completed by 2030, are crucial if Denmark, home to industry leaders Vestas (VWS.CO), and Orsted , is to meet its target to reduce CO2 emissions by 70% from 1990 levels by the end of this decade.
The state will claim ownership to 20% stake in each of the tendered projects. As participants must commit to paying the price of over 30 years to the state in order to win the right to build wind farms.
Six sites will be made available, making it possible to construct at least 6 GW. The winning projects will however be allowed to put up as many turbines as possible, meaning the capacity could be 10 GW or even more, the ministry said.
However, this amount of wind power is far above Denmark’s consumption as it will be exported to neighboring countries or used to produce hydrogen, said the climate and energy ministry.
The estimated cost of building 1 GW of offshore wind, which is enough to power roughly one million European homes, is around 16 billion Danish crowns ($2.3 billion), according to the ministry. Denmark today has a total of 2.7 GW offshore wind installed.
