Today’s big topic: Failure led Denmark to set aside billions for offshore wind turbines. Today, we will find out whether it is enough
A year and a half ago, the SVM government’s tender collapsed completely. Not a single bid came in to build the offshore wind farms the government had pinned its hopes on.
What’s happening?
Climate disappointments piled up during the three years the outgoing SVM government occupied the ministerial offices. Denmark is nowhere near quadrupling green electricity from onshore wind turbines and solar panels, as the government had set out to do. Promises to store nearly three million tons of CO2 underground in 2030 had to be almost halved, and the much-touted hydrogen boom has stalled, to name just a few.
But no failure hit as hard as offshore wind. Eighteen months have passed since the largest tender in Danish history – meant to more than double electricity from offshore turbines flopped completely. Not a single bid came in to build the offshore wind farms the government had been counting on.
Now the state is trying again, albeit on a slightly smaller scale and, crucially this time, with taxpayer-funded billions on the table. The deadline is 2 p.m. Wednesday to bid on two offshore wind farms: one in the North Sea and one in the Kattegat.
This is not only about the legacy of the government’s climate policy – it is also a litmus test for Mette Frederiksen’s (S) many international pledges to free Europe from Russian and lately also Middle Eastern and American oil and fossil gas
Why it matters!
Denmark has some of the world’s best locations for offshore wind: near-constant wind and shallow waters where it is relatively easy to drive turbine foundations into the seabed. No wonder both Lars Løkke and Mette Frederiksen have repeatedly tried to turn offshore wind into an industrial success story.
As recently as January, the prime minister and eight other countries signed a declaration to build 20,000 of the very largest turbines tall as the pylons of the Great Belt Bridge in the North Sea by 2050. Industry, in turn, has promised to cut the price of electricity by 30 percent.
The blueprint for that agreement came from, among others, Denmark’s Ørsted, which the state partly owns. It would be a surprise if one of the envelopes the Danish Energy Agency opens on Wednesday does not come from Ørsted itself. Other companies that might join the tender include Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, founded by former senior Ørsted employees; Sweden’s Vattenfall, which operates several offshore wind farms in Denmark; Germany’s RWE, which is building Thor; and oil companies led by France’s Total.
The many billions in state subsidies are a hefty powder keg for the outgoing government’s final shot in its climate barrel. With that on the table no matter what ministers may say as they pack up their offices it would be a disappointment if fewer than three bids come in.
If, on the other hand, energy giants once again flock to put wind turbines in Danish waters, it will not only salvage part of the SVM government’s climate policy. It will also offer hope that Europe can build the green energy it needs to stop buying fossil fuels from countries led by people we would rather not be dependent on.
Still curious? Read the full article here.
In other news
– The Moderates arrived at the meeting bewildered after Troels Lund Poulsen’s message: »It’s insane«
Moderaterne (M) were caught completely off guard when Troels Lund Poulsen (V) on Tuesday announced a shift into a higher gear in Danish politics: That, as royal-appointed negotiator, he will now try to form a minority government consisting of Venstre (V), Liberal Alliance (LA) and De Konservative (K). In other words, a new VLAK government with Troels Lund as prime minister. Sources in the Moderates say Lund Poulsen’s announcement came »as a bit of a shock« to the party, and that at Tuesday’s caucus meeting it was seen as a breach of trust between Troels Lund and Lars Løkke (M). Among the parties in the blue bloc, there was an awareness that Lars Løkke would have a hard time embracing the idea of a blue minority government. But the assessment is that Troels Lund Poulsen’s move has not been in vain, even if Løkke holds firm in his opposition. Now it is Lars Løkke who must explain why he does not want so many of his signature priorities carried out with support from blue mandates. And now, the blue bloc has a shared platform for potential opposition work and attacks on the Moderates have already begun.
– Researcher points to »the enormous societal problem« in new cancer study: the men with the highest mortality are the hardest to reach
Seven months ago, Per Stephansen was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. And for the five months before that, he had been getting by with almost no voice and without going to the doctor. »I couldn’t talk. At all. I only went to the doctor after my sister told me to over the phone«, Per Stephansen says. »Men don’t really go to the doctor. We’re tough as hell«, he adds, flashing a small smile that bares his teeth. That assessment is also the conclusion of a new, large-scale Danish cancer study. In it, researchers from the Danish Cancer Society and a number of oncologists, drawing on registry data from 2004 to 2020 covering more than seven million Danes, mapped differences in cancer risk and mortality among men and women across 35 cancers not specific to either sex. And the gap is striking. According to the study, men, compared with women, generally have a 52 percent higher risk of developing cancer and a 10 percent higher risk of dying after a diagnosis, after accounting for other causes of death. »There are enormous differences between men and women in the absolute numbers, and we were surprised that the gap is so large across so many cancer types«, said Fie Stegenborg, the study’s lead author, which forms part of her Ph.D. work.
– The world’s largest music company has triggered a new power struggle in the music business
The world’s largest music company, Universal Music, has set off a new power struggle in Denmark’s music industry. At the center of the fight is one of the business’s key figures: the manager. For many musicians, the manager is far more than a practical go-between. It is the person who stays with an artist every step of the way. The one who is often there long before the record label enters the picture. The one who must be able to push back if an artist is being driven too hard or not being given proper priority. The problem, critics say, is that Universal has brought three of the most important functions under the same roof a record label, concert booking, and management. That means the manager is no longer an independent adviser, and it is drawing sharp criticism from several people in the industry, who fear it could have major consequences for musicians. Universal’s new structure is not just an internal reorganization. It is a sign of a broader shift in which international corporations are gaining far greater control over Denmark’s music scene, said Fabian Holt, an associate professor of communication at Roskilde University who has previously worked in the sociology of music.
Talk of town: Now grass pollen is in the air: How to prevent hay fever
Both children and adults are plagued by hay fever. Grass pollen in the air can mean that some have to give up playing soccer in the summer.
No sooner is the birch pollen season drawing to a close than grass pollen is now setting the country’s roughly one million pollen allergy sufferers sneezing and struggling for breath.
Many people with hay fever have trouble with several kinds of pollen, but the type that triggers symptoms in the most people is grass.
Allergy sufferers can follow along via Asthma-Allergy Denmark’s app, Dagens Pollental (Today’s Pollen Count), which makes it easier to plan medication and outdoor activities. For grass, the amount of pollen in the air is considered high when the number is above 50. The more pollen, the worse the symptoms for hay fever sufferers.
Itchy eyes, a runny nose, sneezing fits and breathing problems like coughing and shortness of breath are among the symptoms that can be so troublesome that half of all people with pollen allergies, to some extent, avoid spending time outdoors during pollen season.
This newsletter features stories originally published in Danish. AI was used to shorten and translate the articles into English, after which a member of the editorial staff reviewed and refined the content.