[ad_1]
The Danish government has postponed launching a tender for the North Sea Energy Island as the current concept is not profitable and it wants to analyse options for a more cost-effective project.
Based on estimates by the Danish Energy Agency, the current project incurs excessive state costs of more than DKK 50 billion (USD 7.3bn/EUR 6.7bn), according to an announcement by the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities on Wednesday.
While the government remains committed to realising an energy island, it needs to explore alternatives that can make the project economically viable, the ministry said.
The tender documents will therefore not be published as planned before the summer holidays and the decision on how to realise the project is postponed until later this year.
“The project is important for both Denmark’s and Europe’s green transition as well as energy security. When planning projects of this magnitude, we have to ensure that we choose the most responsible solutions. We are now taking a little more time for that, so we can make a decision later in the year,” said energy minister Lars Aagaard.
The energy island is a relatively new concept conceived as a hub for the collection and distribution of offshore wind power, as well as linking markets via interconnectors. The North Sea Energy Island is planned to have a capacity of at least 3 GW in its first phase and at least 10 GW when fully developed.
The island can also be platform-based, which is one of the options that will be further examined in the upcoming analyses, the ministry says.
(DKK 1 = USD 0.147/EUR 0.134)
[ad_2]
Source link