Danske Havne: Perfect ambitions for offshore wind but drop the rule-breaking

The Danish Ports Association is enthusiastic about the government's new plans to speed up the construction of Danish offshore wind farms. But reminds that clean-up of timeframes and rules is needed to succeed - a taskforce could be the solution

"We are always enthusiastic about the government's high level of ambition when it comes to the green transition," says Tine Kirk, Director of the Danish Ports Association, which has organised Danish commercial ports since 1917.

She continues:

"However, we are worried that all the good intentions with energy islands, North Sea declarations and now the turbo on more gigawatts of Danish offshore wind, which the government launched on Sunday evening, remain intentions. Because the time it takes to get various regulatory approvals needs to be cleaned up. I can see that the Minister for Climate, Energy and Supply, Dan Jørgensen, is aware that "we need to step up the pace", as he puts it. I just ask that he also be aware that it is not just the time it takes the authorities to approve new offshore wind farms that needs to be shortened by several years, but also the necessary changes that need to take place in the ports."

She points out that both the harbour basins and their navigation channels need to be deepened, and more space needs to be created in the harbour hinterland. Deepening and space are essential if ships with ever larger offshore wind turbines are to dock and sail from Danish ports. The recesses because ships go ever deeper with the heavier elements on board, the space because the elements for the offshore wind turbines are getting longer and larger in addition to heavier.

We foresee that in a short time monopiles of up to 120 meters with a diameter of 15 meters will be produced, for example, at Odense Port . This requires space behind the quays of the ports, both for production and storage facilities.

The ports are central to the whole process, because elements for the offshore wind farms have to be produced and shipped out. But the servicing is also done at sea for obvious reasons, so a number of ports are employed as service ports for crews who do both maintenance and security of the parks at sea.

Set up a rapid and knowledgeable task force

"There can be a tendency to overlook ports a little in this whole hectic political process," says Tine Kirk.

"We saw this with the North Sea Declaration in Esbjerg, where the EU Commission President rightly insisted that the approval processes for wind turbines, which can often take seven or eight years, must be reduced to one or two years. One consequence of that is that the speed, the bureaucracy, if you like, of getting approval for deepening and extending offshore ports is also reduced accordingly. Politicians need to prioritise this.

'Otherwise, we're left with an approved offshore wind farm that's delayed because the ports can't deliver. In the worst case, the tasks are then carried out by foreign ports, as the minister also points out, with the loss of Danish jobs and growth as a result. And that would simply be too stupid,"says Tine Kirk.

She therefore proposes a fast-track task force to assist the government in identifying the stumbling blocks and bureaucratic inefficiencies that are holding up the process. The task force could, in the opinion of the Danish Ports Association, be made up of experts who work with these challenges on a daily basis, in ports, shipping, municipalities and in the offshore wind industry as a whole.

"We are happy to contribute, the minister just has to say so", adds Tine Kirk.