Commission approves Danish support for offshore wind farm

The European Commission’s State Aid Weekly E-News this week reports the following decision that may be of interest to those who are interested in State aid in the planning context.

“Commission approves Danish support for offshore wind farm

The Commission has found Danish plans to support a 400 MW wind farm at Horns Rev, off the Danish west coast, to be in line with EU state aid rules. The wind farm is expected to make an important contribution to the decarbonisation of the economy. The Commission assessed the measure under its Guidelines for Environmental and Energy aid. Under the measure, the Danish State will grant the operator of the wind farm a set premium on top of the market price for electricity. This will be financed through the Danish Public Service Obligation (PSO) tariff, a charge levied upon all electricity consumed in Denmark for the support of renewable energy. To ensure that the state support is limited to the minimum necessary, the premium will be determined in a competitive bidding process, awarding the contract to the operator that offers the lowest premium level. Moreover, no state subsidies will be paid for periods in which wholesale price is negative. The Commission therefore considers that the measure supports renewable energy in a market based way, as required by the Guidelines. It concluded that the measure would further common energy and environmental objectives without unduly distorting competition in the Single Market. The non-confidential version of the decision will be made available under the case number SA.40305 in the State Aid Register on the DG Competition website once confidentiality issues have been resolved.”