Denmark ushers in new era in renewable energy, vowing to create world’s first “Energy Islands”

Energy islands act as hubs, allowing the connection of several offshore wind farms, distributing power between the countries connected to the island. The two titanic offshore wind energy islands will be located in the North Sea and Baltic Sea and can help increase Europe’s share of renewable energy.

Furthermore, the agreement will provide significant investments in the development of carbon capture technology and sustainable e-fuels such as green hydrogen.

The agreement will also transform the Danish heating sector by lowering taxes on renewables and incentivize the replacement of oil and gas heaters with heat pumps and district energy. Furthermore, it will fund charging stations for electric vehicles and help the industrial sector decarbonize through energy efficiency measures and increasing the use of renewable electricity and biogas.

Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities, Mr. Dan Jørgensen said:

“By creating the world’s first two energy islands and by investing in sustainable fuels, we are making a crucial contribution to the international fight against climate change. I hope that this agreement will show other nations that climate action and economic recovery goes hand-in-hand. I am thrilled that we have concluded this agreement and would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the parties behind it.”

Minister for Finance, Mr. Nicolai Wammen stated:

“By concluding this agreement, Denmark has proved itself to be a global leader in the green energy transition. Moreover, it paves the way for a green economic recovery by funding some of the greatest infrastructure investments on record. By creating the world’s first energy islands, we are now entering a new era of renewable energy production. Concurrently we will invest in sustainable fuels, a sustainable heating sector and help decarbonize the industrial sector. I am extremely proud that we have managed to conclude a broad-based agreement that not only moves Denmark closer to reaching our national climate goal, but also creates numerous jobs in the years to come.”

Background

In December 2019, the Danish Parliament agreed on a Climate Act that obligates Denmark to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030 (compared to 1990). Consequently, Denmark must reduce its emission by 20 million tons CO2e by 2030.

To meet this target, the Government is pursuing a Climate Action Plan that will require emission reduction across all sectors, including agriculture and transportation. The first chapter of the Climate Action Plan, reducing emissions from the waste sector (by 0.7 million tons CO2e), was concluded on June 16^th. Last night’s agreement will reduce an additional 2.7 million tons CO2e, thus totaling 3.4 million tons.

The reduction is equivalent to the emissions of 350.000 people (that is similar to the population of the city of Aarhus, Denmark’s second largest city) or half of the emissions from Denmark’s vehicles.

In the latter half of 2020, the Government will start the political discussions on reducing emissions from agriculture and transportation.

Highlights from the agreement on the energy sector and industry

• Construction of 6 GW offshore wind energy (5 GW of those based on the Energy Islands), bringing Denmark’s total capacity to 7.7 GW by 2030.
• Investing in the development of Power-to-X technology that can provide sustainable fuels to ships, planes and trucks.
• Investing in the development of carbon capture technology.
• Investing in the development of biogas.