Why the counting of bats could delay a major Orsted green hydrogen and e-fuels project

An offshore wind farm lined up to power one of Europe’s pioneering green hydrogen projects risks being delayed by a bureaucratic tangle over how bats are counted.

The 250MW Aflandshage wind farm in the Oresund strait off Denmark, was granted a permit last year by the Danish Energy Agency but has now had that revoked by the nation’s Energy Complaints Board following an appeal, said Hofor, the Copenhagen utility developing the project.

"We can ascertain that it is, among other things, a changed practice by the authorities regarding the counting of bats, which has triggered the rejection in the appeals board,” said HOFOR.

Wind projects can struggle to receive environmental permits if authorities believe they would significantly impact local populations of bats or birds.

“It’s definitely a risk that it could be delayed,” she said. “We might have to do some more investigations, which might delay us. That’s what we’re looking into now.”

Aflandshage is due to be part of the 100MW-electrolyser second phase of Green Fuels for Denmark, one of Orsted’s flagship Power-to-X projects whose other partners include shipping giant Moller-Maersk, airline SAS and Copenhagen Airport.

The project’s base will be Avedore Power Station in Copenhagen, which will also supply biogenic carbon for producing e-methanol and e-kerosene.

When fully developed by the end of the decade, Green Fuels for Denmark is due to feature around 1.3GW of electrolyser capacity.

Hofor’s difficulties with bats reflects wider issues over consenting facing the offshore wind industry across Europe, with major North Sea projects such a Orsted’s 2.6GW Hornsea 4 suffering delays over seabird impacts.

The minister said “if our rules keep us from rolling out massive offshore wind capacity, there won’t be much of an ecosystem left to protect in the future to come”.