Renewables developer European Energy is to move ahead with construction of a DKr1bn ($158m) solar farm in Denmark which it describes as “the biggest” installation of its kind in northern Europe.
The Danish company said it had won local council approval to build the 300MW solar PV project in the municipality of Aabenraa in southern Jutland.
The solar farm is to be installed near to future data centres as well as a major regional transformer station, delivering enough green power to supply 75,000 Danish households.
Large utility-scale solar PV plants are less common in densely populated Europe than in other parts of the world, such as in the US, where land constraints are less of an issue. Utility EnBW is currently building the largest solar farm in Denmark's southern neighbor Germany, the 187MW Weesow-Willmersdorf array north of Berlin.
Construction of the Aabenraa project is expected to start early next year with 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 we 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 neighbours of the solar farm,” he said.
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 expanision 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.
PV took a starring role in the International Energy Agency’s latest flagship World Energy Outlook this month, which labelled solar the new "king of the world's electricity markets."
