New planning rules will cause lengthy delays to Danish nearshore wind projects according to trade association Wind Denmark.
Chief executive Jan Hylleberg claimed up to 500MW of projects will be set back by “two to three years” after the Danish Energy Agency said it will require a further round of public consultation before granting full consent via establishment permits.
There are seven nearshore projects currently in various stages of development.
“Developers of the nearshore projects have worked up to seven years and invested considerable sums in preparing these projects, and the goalposts have been moved several times,” said Hylleberg.
The move will bring nearshore projects in line with the procedure for Danish offshore wind farms, for which developers must conduct a public consultation on environmental impact assessments and draft establishment permits when applying for establishment permits.
“The change in isolation makes sense, but given the desert walk that nearshore projects have been subject to so far, the extra round of the EIA is a difficult camel to swallow, as it is both costly and delaying the green transition,” added Hylleberg.