Having unveiled its Leeuwin Offshore Wind Project to the south of Perth, the Danish renewable energy developer Copenhagen Energy has now launched the Midwest Offshore Wind Project, a second 3GW offshore wind project north of Perth on the coast of Western Australia. The company has proposed to start construction on both projects by 2028. This seems to be a very ambitious schedule considering the early stage of the projects and the fact that the Midwest proposal has not yet received environmental approval. Australia has recently announced its first offshore wind zone and identified five other areas for subsequent development. Copenhagen Energy has highlighted the huge interest in Australia's offshore wind potential. Copenhagen Energy's website shows two more offshore wind project proposals in Western Australia, Samphire and Velella, although it has not yet detailed the locations of these projects. They would bring the company's total development portfolio in Western Australia to 12GW, which would exceed the capacity of the state's grid.
The chief executives of Denmark's Vestas and Ørsted, the world's largest wind turbine manufacturer and largest developer of offshore wind farms, respectively, say governments need to support their green development by simplifying the often complex planning process. They called on governments to significantly speed up the approval process for new wind farms or risk failing to meet their green targets. Because of Byzantine processes and legal challenges, projects can be delayed by years, in some cases resulting in turbine designs that are already outdated by the time they are licensed. The European Commission strongly supported efforts to speed up permitting in May, saying that the principle that renewable energy is in the "overriding public interest" should be enshrined in EU law and that projects should be approved within one to two years. But the wind industry remains frustrated by the pace in some countries, with a large backlog of projects still waiting for approval to begin. According to analyst firm GlobalData, in Germany, Spain and Poland there is more than eight times as much installed wind power capacity waiting to be licensed as there is under construction. The Ørsted CEO Mads Nipper believes governments need to take policy measures and radically reduce the time it takes to approve projects.
The upcoming passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in the US is the latest in a series of political measures to boost the prospects for green hydrogen, and will provide tax breaks of up to USD 3.00 per kilogram of clean hydrogen. Nel CEO Håkon Volldal believes the US will be one of the cheapest places in the world to produce clean hydrogen. Nel has made significant progress in the North American market, announcing the company's largest order for electrolysers to date in July. The 200MW stack, worth EUR 45 million, will be commissioned in 2024. Volldal says this record order represents a change in market dynamics and a similar long-term outlook could inspire further investment in green hydrogen and related infrastructure.
In addition to the US, the EU's RePowerEU initiative aims to produce 10 million tonnes of green hydrogen within the bloc by 2030 and to import a further 10 million tonnes. Several countries now have national hydrogen plans. For example, Germany's plan is at the forefront, with billions of euros of investment committed both domestically and internationally. International political momentum and investor confidence support Nel's recent decision to double production at its Herøya plant, with 1GW coming online by early 2024.
According to a comprehensive analysis of the climate efforts and results of the 30 largest Danish companies for 2019-2021 in the Finans report, Novo Nordisk is doing the best job in reducing CO2 emissions. Novo Nordisk's revenues have increased by 15% over this period, while CO2 emissions from operations and energy consumption have fallen by 42% and emissions from business travel and transport of goods have fallen by 44%. This means that growth in turnover has been successfully decoupled from growth in emissions. Novo Nordisk plans to achieve the carbon neutrality target for operations and transport by 2030. They are replacing 6,500 company cars, reducing the amount of travel and have an agreement with Mærsk for green transport of their products. But most importantly, they are buying only green electricity globally, while steam production for Danish manufacturing is based on biomass. Novo Nordisk aims to achieve zero emissions in the value chain by 2045. Therefore, if a supplier does not switch to green electricity by 2030, Novo Nordisk warns that the partnership could end.
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The Nordic countries are some of the most dynamic and successful economies in the world. They are also leaders in sustainability, from renewable energy, biofuels, carbon capture and storage and the hydrogen economy, circular economy business models and battery development, the Nordics are pioneers in policy design, technology development and consumer uptake. Mundus Nordic Green News is covering this transition for the international community. Every day we curate the stories of most relevance to international businesspeople and policy experts from the flow of news. Mundus Nordic Green Indices summarise the meta-data from our daily coverage to enable easy tracking of trends. We supplement these with our own opinion pieces and commentary.