European Energy, a renewables developer has announced that they will be constructing a US$158 million solar farm that has been dubbed as the “largest” installation of its kind in Denmark and entire Northern Europe. The Danish company said it had won local council approval to build the 300MW solar project in the municipality of Aabenraa in southern Jutland. The Denmark solar farm is to be installed near future data centers as well as a major regional transformer station, delivering enough green power to supply 75,000 Danish households.
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Large utility-scale solar Photo Voltaic plants are not as common in densely populated areas in Europe as in other parts of the world, such as in the US, where land constraints are less of an issue. Utility EnBW is currently also constructing the largest solar farm in Denmark’s southern neighbor Germany, the 187MW Weesow-Willmersdorf north of Berlin. Construction of the Aabenraa project is expected to begin in early 2021 with a grid connection to take place before the end of 2021.
European Energy chief executive Knud Erik Andersen highlighted its “strong cooperation” with local farmers and the municipality of Aabenraa. “Working together to find common ground is absolutely key to make a project of this size likely to succeed. Throughout the planning process, they are said to have had a very constructive dialogue with the municipality and have also seen a very constructive approach from the local citizens that will be future neighbors of the solar farm. The Danish government has set ambitious goals for a 70% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 requiring a significant growth in renewables, partly driven by an expansion of utility-scale solar farms. Wind and solar generation met up to 50% of Denmark’s power demand last year, according to figures from grid operator Energinet.
