Renewable energy industry can almost do without subsidy

The moment when sustainable energy can be done without government subsidies is within reach. So says Lars Christian Lilleholt, the Danish energy minister.

In a few years, the renewable energy industry will no longer need government subsidies. "We're almost there," Lilleholt said in a Bloomberg interview this week Sustainable Business is based.

Earlier this month it was announced that the German energy company EnBW had won a tender for the realization of the offshore 'He Dreiht' wind farm on the German coast. The wind farm is the world's first offshore wind farm to be realized without government subsidy.

Dong Energy also won 3 bids for offshore wind farms. 2 of these wind farms will also be realized without government subsidy.

Renewable energy
Lilleholt argues that Denmark demonstrates that coal is no longer cheaper than renewable energy sources. For example, Denmark is the homeland of Vestas and Dong Energy: the world's largest producer of wind turbines and the world's largest operator of offshore wind farms respectively.

The Danish minister expects sustainable energy sources to become increasingly attractive. 'Everything indicates that technology will ensure that sustainable energy becomes increasingly competitive. Last year, the question was whether the costs for sustainable energy could ever be so low that government subsidies are no longer necessary. Now the expectation is that we will reach this point quite soon.'

Denmark
Denmark has set itself the goal of using only renewable energy from 2050. By 2030, 50 percent of the total energy requirement must already come from renewable energy sources.

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