Netherlands to pay EUR 100m to count Danish renewables towards 2020 goal

The Dutch State will pay EUR 100 million (USD 113m) to Denmark under an agreement for statistical transfer so as to be able to count 8 TWh of Danish green power towards the Netherlands’ binding 2020 renewable energy target.

Under the terms of the deal, signed on June 19, the Netherlands can receive an additional volume of up to 8 TWh. It needs to inform Denmark by August 1, 2021 whether it would take advantage of that option in full or partially.

The statistical transfer mechanism allows EU member states to avoid penalties for failing to meet their 2020 renewables targets by partnering with other countries in the bloc. The Netherlands has calculated that it would fail to achieve a 14% renewables share in gross final energy consumption for 2020, a goal it set years ago, even though it has many renewable energy projects in progress.

Denmark will use the EUR 100 million it will receive from the deal to launch a tender supporting the development of power-to-X technologies. Details are yet to be determined, but the statistical transfer agreement says the country could be “aiming for instance at approx. 100 MW electrolysis capacity”.

An Eurostat report from January 2020 shows the Netherlands had reached a renewables share in gross final energy consumption of just 7.4% at end-2018.

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