The Danish Energy Agency has suspended the processing of offshore wind turbine projects and other renewable energy projects under the 20GW open door scheme.
The proceedings have been put on hold until further clarification of EU legal issues, it said.
The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Supply has, in dialogue with the government’s State Aid Secretariat, assessed that the granting of permits for offshore wind turbine projects and other renewable energy projects under the open door scheme may be in breach of EU law.
The Danish Energy Agency has therefore put the case processing of all pending cases under the open door scheme on hold until the scheme’s relation to EU law has been examined in more detail.
The same will apply to any new applications.
The Danish Energy Agency has informed the relevant parties involved and will continuously communicate to the actors about the further process for the individual cases.
The agency will also clarify the questions that have been raised as soon as possible – with assistance from relevant ministries, it added.
Green Power Denmark chief executive Kristian Jensen said: “This is completely unheard of.
“The government suddenly slams the door to the green transition with a bang that sends shock waves through the entire green energy industry.
“The companies have done a huge preparatory work and are ready to build more green energy, and then the government pulls the plug on the ‘open door’ scheme at the 11th hour. It’s simply not right.
“It is a break with the way we have historically conducted energy policy in Denmark and creates enormous uncertainty about green investments.
“The decision is a huge blow to our climate ambitions. Now we are only left with the planned 9GW of offshore wind, for which tenders have not started at all.
“At the same time, we see that the expansion of wind turbines and solar cells on land is creeping along.
“We are in a situation where we urgently need green power for our 2030 climate goals, Power-to-X ambitions and goal of becoming a net exporter of green power.”