Commission endorses Denmark’s REPowerEU chapter
Today, the Commission has positively assessed Denmark´s REPowerEU chapter.
Denmark’s REPowerEU chapter consists of one new reform and four new investments to deliver on the REPowerEU Plan‘s objectives to make Europe independent from Russian fossil fuels well before 2030. These measures focus on simplifying permitting procedures for wind and solar energy on land, increasing offshore wind energy production capacity and up- and reskilling for the green transition. In addition, Denmark also scaled up two investments that were included in its original plan. These focus on capture, use and storage of carbon and on replacing fossil fuel heating systems by sustainable systems like heat pumps.
No investment or reform has been removed from the initial recovery and resilience plan.
To finance the increased ambition of its plan, Denmark has requested to transfer to the plan part of its share of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve, in line with the REPowerEU Regulation, amounting to €66 million. Together with REPowerEU and RRF grants for Denmark (respectively amounting to €131 million and €1.43 billion, these funds make the submitted overall modified plan worth €1.63 billion, covering 7 reforms and 37 investments. Denmark has not requested loans.
An additional boost to Denmark’s green transition
The modified plan has an even stronger focus on the green transition, allocating 69% (up from 59% in the original plan) of the available funds to measures that support climate objectives.
The measures included in the REPowerEU chapter strongly contribute to reducing the reliance on fossil fuels. The proposed reform focuses on speeding up procedures to end the use of gas for heating purposes by shortening permitting times for district heating. It also aims to speed up the rollout of onshore solar and wind installations. Moreover, the reform lays out the framework for reducing the administrative burden to promote the green transition in municipalities across Denmark. REPowerEU investments provide for more offshore wind installations by preparing related auctions, providing for testing of wind turbines and by screening the offshore capacity. In addition, the REPowerEU chapter provides additional financing for carbon capture and storage through a dedicated fund and increases the scope for replacing oil burners and gas furnaces with other heating systems based on sustainable energy sources.
Reinforcing Denmark’s green skill base and maintaining focus on digital transition
In the area of education, Denmark’s REPowerEU chapter includes a measure to provide equipment, teacher training and course development allowing learners in vocational education and training to improve skills and knowledge on green technologies and sustainability. This will contribute to ensuring that the necessary skills are available to develop and use green technologies and thus support the green transition.
The plan remains ambitious in the digital sphere too, allocating 27%(up from 25% in the original plan) of its total allocation to support the digital transition.
Next steps
The Council will now have, as a rule, four weeks to endorse the Commission’s assessment.
The Council’s endorsement would allow Denmark to present the next and subsequent payment requests under the RRF and a request for €39 million in pre-financing of the REPowerEU funds.
The Commission will authorise further disbursements based on the satisfactory fulfilment of the milestones and targets outlined in Denmark’s recovery and resilience plan, reflecting progress on the implementation of the investments and reforms.
Background
Under the RRF, Denmark has so far received €503 million, comprising pre-financing (€202 million disbursed on 2 September 2021) as well a payment of €301 million on 27 April 2023 following the positive assessment of Denmark’s first payment request.
