European Commission - Press release
Commission endorses Denmark's REPowerEU chapter
Brussels, 19 October 2023
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