Taxpayers on the hook for €5b after EU clears Danish wind subsidy

The European Commission has authorised a €5 billion ($5.4 billion) Danish state aid/taxpayer subsidy scheme to fund the development of offshore wind energy. This measure was approved under the "clean industrial deal state aid" framework, which the commission adopted on June 25, 2025.

The scheme is intended to fund the construction and operation of two specific offshore wind farms, known as Hesselø and North Sea I Mid. While Hesselø is expected by the Danish Government to have a capacity of at least 0.8 GW, the North Sea I Mid project is expected to reach a minimum capacity of one GW.

Together, these two facilities are projected to generate approximately 7.8 TWh per year. This combined annual production would represent the equivalent of about 25 per cent of the total electricity produced in Denmark during the previous year.