Unsubsidized 200 MW PV plant under construction in Denmark

Danish PV developer Better Energy has started building a 200 MW unsubsidized PV power plant in Holstebro municipality, northwestern Denmark.

The plant will be owned and operated by Heartland, a unit of Danish clothing company Bestseller. It will provide 100% of its electricity needs, while also selling power to other Bestseller facilities, and those owned by Danish retail chains Normal and Nemlig. The group did not provide any additional details. 

 “It is not only the size of the new solar plant that is groundbreaking, but it is also the fact that the solar plant will supply Bestseller and other companies with new subsidy-free green electricity,” said Better Energy CEO Rasmus Lildholdt Kjær.

Better Energy is building the project on cultivated agricultural land that will also be used for organic farming. Construction started earlier this month. The array is scheduled for completion by the summer of 2021.

“During construction, permanent grass and herb vegetation cover in the form of organic clover grass will be established, sections of the undeveloped areas will be sown with flower seeds and pesticides will no longer be used on the land area,” the developer explained. “Thus, in the future, pesticides and herbicides will no longer be washed into the area’s vulnerable streams and groundwater during periods of heavy rain, and better living conditions for bees and other pollinating insects will be created.”

The plant will include a transformer station operated by Danish utility Energinet in Idomlund in spring 2021.

 “This is the first time that a solar PV system has been connected directly to the Danish electricity transmission line and directly to electricity highways,” said Poul Oslo Rasmussen, an operations engineer at transmission system operator Energinet.

Denmark already has subsidy-free solar installations under development, including a 400 MW project near Nissum Fjord.