135

News

Government to drop coastal wind turbine plans

Christian Wenande
May 13th, 2016


This article is more than 8 years old.

Cutting PSO tax will reduce Denmark’s high energy bill

In an attempt to reduce the total PSO tax, which goes to supporting sustainable energy, the government wants to scupper plans to establish wind turbines along the Danish coastline.

The government is aiming to cut the PSO tax by 8 billion kroner by axing the coastal wind turbines, which were agreed to during an energy agreement in 2012.

“Denmark’s economy is in a rut,” said Troels Lund Poulsen, the business and growth minister. “Cutting the PSO tax will be a significant help to Danish companies, which often compete with foreign companies that enjoy far lower taxes and fees.”

“As of now, the PSO tax limits Denmark’s ability to compete, and the cut will benefit all companies and will support continued production in Denmark.”

READ MORE: Denmark tops EU for energy fees

Lower energy bills
In total, the PSO tax is expected to cost companies and private energy consumers in Denmark some 70 billion kroner over the next decade.

But with the wind turbine plan now blowing in the wind, the government expects the lofty energy bill of the average Dane will decrease. It will also satisfy the EU, which contends that the PSO tax goes against EU legislation and must be changed by the end of 2016.

The coastal wind turbines were supposed to be ready by 2020 and were expected to produce 350 MW of sustainable energy.


Share

Most popular

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to receive The Daily Post

















Latest Podcast

A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”