Establishment Permit Application Submitted for Danish Little Belt South Offshore Wind Project

Planning & Permitting

March 4, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) has initiated a public consultation on the 165 MW Lillebælt Syd (Little Belt South) offshore wind farm, planned to be built in the Little Belt strait between the islands of Als and Helnæs.

On 7 February 2024, the DEA approved the feasibility study report for the project and said that, while the approval did not give the project developer the right to build the offshore wind farm, it enabled the company to proceed to the next steps in the application process, including applying for an establishment permit.

The Agency also noted it would only take a final decision on whether to give the project the green light once a new public hearing had been carried out on the permit application.

On its website, the DEA states that if the developer applies for an establishment permit, the application, together with the approved environmental impact report with relevant annexes, a draft of the Danish Energy Agency’s establishment decision, as well as the consultation note from a completed authority hearing of the environmental impact report must be sent for eight weeks of public consultation.

According to information in the DEA’s press release from 1 March, this material is now part of the ongoing public consultation that will run until 26 April 2024.

Once the consultation has been completed, the Danish Energy Agency will prepare a consultation memorandum which will detail on whether the received consultation responses will lead to changes to the project and whether the Agency can issue a Section 25 permit under the Renewable Energy Act.

If a Section 25 permit is granted for the establishment of the Little Belt South offshore wind farm, the developer, a joint venture between European Energy and SONFOR (formerly Sønderborg Forsyning), can begin the construction work.

In January, TotalEnergies signed an agreement with SONFOR and European Energy to purchase 72 per cent of the shares in the project company Lillebælt Vind A/S. The deal first must obtain approvals from the authorities before the ownership formally takes effect, which is expected in the third quarter of 2024.

Little Belt South is planned to comprise eleven 15 MW wind turbines, making up the project’s total installed capacity of 165 MW. The power from the wind farm is expected to supply power both to the Sønderborg area’s electricity consumers and to a planned Power-to-X plant that will produce green fuels for planes and ships.

The offshore wind farm is expected to be completed in 2028.