March 28 (UPI) -- Danish plans to build one of the larger wind farms in European territorial waters are in line with competition and environmental goals there, a governing body said.
Denmark in February told the European Commission it was offering state-backed premiums for the price of electricity to support the Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm. Margrethe Vestager, the European commissioner in charge of competition policy, said the wind farm will help Denmark cut back on greenhouse gas emissions without distorting the market.
"The Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm will help to cut carbon dioxide emissions while the support is carefully designed to avoid distorting competition in electricity markets," she said in a statement. "I'm glad to be able to approve state support for this project."
Vattenfall, a state-owned Swedish energy company, secured the bid to build Kriegers Flak in late 2016. Its winning bid of $54.10 per megawatt-hour made the project one of the least expensive offshore wind projects in the world.
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At 600 megawatts, Kriegers Flak will be Denmark's largest offshore wind farm, with a peak capacity large enough to satisfy nearly a quarter of all average households in the country.
The Danish Parliament in 2012 voted to develop an economy entirely independent of fossil fuels by 2040.
Nine countries that share a border with the North Sea -- Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden -- agreed last year to improve infrastructure to support offshore wind.
The European Commission added that infrastructure offshore will connect regional offshore wind farms so that an increased exchange of electricity between the German and Danish markets is permissible.
