Danish water utility Hovedstadsområdets Forsyningsselskab (HOFOR) will invest in a what will be one of the largest solar parks in the country with 180 MW PV capacity. It has entered into a collaboration with private business foundation Stiftelsen Sorø Akademi to develop the project between Sorø and Ringsted regions.
To be built on 250 hectares of land owned by the Sorø Akademi, the project will be developed and owned by HOFOR. On completion sometime in 2024, it will generate power corresponding to electricity consumption of some 50,000 households in Denmark. Project will be grid connected to state owned electricity supplier Energienet.dk.
HOFOR sees solar energy with its declining costs as a competitive source of green energy that can effectively complement its wind farms. The utility's Area Manager for Wind & Energy Trade, Jesper Pedersen said this collaboration with Sorø Akademi should encourage similar collaborations with other landowners in Denmark to lease land for solar energy installations.
Both the partners will be seeking environmental approval for the project from state authorities and Sorø municipality in Denmark, a country that has conventionally preferred wind energy so far. Now, the government is encouraging solar energy, mainly by way of competitive auctions, in a quest to meet its goal of meeting 70% of its electricity needs from renewable energies by 2030 (see Denmark: Feedback For 2020 Tech-Neutral Tender).
Anticipating an increase in demand for clean energy in the commercial and industrial segment, private investors too are interested in exploring the country's solar PV potential. In June 2020, Encavis of Germany announced a partnership with GreenGo Energy Group to build 500 MW of utility scale subsidy free solar projects in the Nordic country (see Encavis Plans Big For Denmark Solar Market).
However, there are currently even larger PV plants in the planning stage in Denmark. In October, a proposal to build a 300 MW solar farm has been cleared by the local council in the municipality of Aabenraa in Southern Jutland, Denmark paving the way for what renewable energy developer European Energy A/S terms as the 'biggest' solar farm to date in Northern Europe (see 'Largest' Solar Farm With 300 MW In Northern Europe). This would beat Better Energy's similar claim for a 200 MW system contracted to sell power to fashion group Bestseller announced in August 2020 (see 200 MW Subsidy-Free Danish Project Enters Construction).
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