A new partnership between the Danish pension fund Industriens Pension and Better Energy means that more than 400,000 Danes will now become co-owners of new solar parks in Denmark, and probably Poland as well. The total investment amounts to close to DKK 4 billion, making it the largest Danish solar investment to date and a breakthrough for the solar market in Denmark.
Industriens Pension and Better Energy have signed a historic agreement that will give a huge boost to the deployment of solar parks without state support. The first five solar parks covered by the agreement are already in operation, while the majority of the parks are expected to be in operation in the course of 2021 and 2022.
"For the first time, Danish pension savings will help accelerate a massive scaling up of subsidy-free green energy production in Denmark. In that sense, our partnership with Industriens Pension marks the beginning of a new era. The next chapter in the green transition will entail accelerating the deployment of renewable energy capacity without state support, together with ensuring critical widespread community ownership and backing. And this is precisely what we are doing with this agreement,” explains Rasmus Lildholdt Kjær, CEO of Better Energy.
Better Energy is developing, building, and operating the solar parks. The agreement is a 50/50 partnership on the parks that have been built and put into operation. Better Energy will continue to be responsible for operating the solar parks.
"We’re extremely pleased with the investment, which we expect will secure solid, long-term returns for our members, while at the same time contributing significantly to accelerating the scale and pace of the green transition. This is the first time that solar energy has been rolled out at this scale in Denmark, and the investment marks a real breakthrough for solar energy in Denmark,” says Laila Mortensen, CEO of Industriens Pension.
Faster scaling up of the green transition
The investment is expected to include DKK 1.5 billion in equity from the parties, supplemented with long-term project financing, typically in the form of mortgage loans. It is expected that the total investment of equity and project financing will amount to almost DKK 4 billion.
“This agreement establishes a robust partnership model for how to rapidly scale up the green transition. And this is imperative if Denmark is to have a reasonable chance of achieving its climate targets,” says Mark Augustenborg Ødum, EVP Partnerships in Better Energy, who stresses that close cooperation and strong partnerships are the way forward to realising the green transition.
The plan is to build around three-quarters of the solar parks in Denmark, while the remaining parks are likely to be built in Poland. The total capacity of the solar parks is expected to amount to approximately 1 GW, corresponding to an annual reduction of more than 350,000 tonnes of CO2.
