"The green transition must benefit rather than come at the expense of the local community. And the process must take place democratically, because otherwise we risk the population turning against the change.”

This is what Helle Munk Ravnborg says when she takes part in the conference in November: 'When citizens say yes to more clean energy in their local area'. Sitting from her home on Bornholm, she talks over an online connection about the project Bornholms Havvind, for which she is the person in charge, and which is probably the most talked about citizen-driven energy project here at home.

"Unfortunately, we are probably best known because these challenges are put before us. I wish we were known instead for the fact that there were a lot of people who had a stake in us and that the windmills were up. But unfortunately that is not where we stand today," she says.

We return to the challenges and instead start from the beginning. In 2019, 12 people on Bornholm came together with an idea. They wanted to do a project with coastal offshore wind turbines.

"People on Bornholm didn't think the turbines should be on land, where we don't have much space, but instead on the water. So we wanted to see if we could create a wind turbine project that could become the island's own," says Helle Munk Ravnborg, who has been involved from the start.

The project consists of either 7 or 9 turbines, depending on how big they will be, and must be set up off Nexø. The people behind the project are trying to hit 100 megawatts in total, because the turbines can then produce 450.000 MWt per year. This will not only cover current consumption on the island, but also in 20 years, when Denmark has become much more electrified.

They have set up a citizens' energy community, where they will sell 450.000 shares at a price of approximately DKK 4000 per share. The shares can be bought by people from Bornholm. It can be citizens, small or medium-sized businesses, municipal or regional actors and associations. In addition, it will be possible to buy support memberships if you do not live on Bornholm. With the shares you get several advantages. If you are a member of the citizens' energy community, cooperative owner and power consumer on Bornholm, you will have the opportunity to purchase power from the wind turbines at cost price, which both citizens and businesses will benefit from. Alternatively, as a shareholder, you will have the opportunity to get a financial return.

Headwinds from the political side

So how can it be that the project is not in full swing with preliminary studies of the seabed and sale of shares? This is due to some political decisions, which Helle Munk Ravnborg and her colleagues in the project are very frustrated and surprised by.

One challenge concerns the open door scheme, which the Danish Energy Agency has put on hold. The scheme had otherwise been revised, so that it was previously supposed to make it possible for locally anchored groups to apply to establish renewable energy facilities in the coastal areas of the sea, for which the state had no other plans. According to the Danish Energy Agency, the disqualification of the scheme is due to the fact that it could be against EU legislation.

"We don't know what exactly goes on behind closed doors. But what we want is for the scheme to be opened again for the coastal projects, as it was changed to in July 2022. The scheme was then to be reserved for coastal projects and for projects that had local support – just like ours. And it has been concluded several times, most recently in November 2022 – also by the Danish Energy Agency itself – that the scheme not involved so-called EU legal aspects.”

Another challenge comes from the Climate Ministry, which has announced that there will be no room for the 7-9 wind turbines from Bornholm's Havvind with the marine plan. But Helle Munk Ravnborg thinks that is not correct.

"We actually have legislation that makes it possible to make a sea plan supplement, which will enable changed use of sea areas within what is called a 'general use zone'. So, if there is otherwise political will for it, then such a sea plan supplement would enable us to set up our wind farm in the location we have chosen. We have received a refusal from the Danish Energy Agency. But it is a refusal that we do not believe rests on an administratively justifiable basis, so we have complained about it to the Energy Complaints Board. And we therefore hope that in half a year's time we will have an answer that says that decision must be reversed. So here we are quite hopeful," she says.

For Helle Munk Ravnborg, coastal citizen-driven projects make a lot of sense. Many islands do not have much land for solar cells and wind turbines, but instead have stretches of coastline that they can use. In this way, it gives the islands the opportunity to take responsibility themselves. At the same time, there will be a short distance from power production on the coast to power consumption inside the island, and thus the whole thing will be more efficient with less power loss.

Need for local enthusiasm

In general, she has a wish for the politicians for much more support and transparency in the energy transition.

"From a political point of view, it sounds like we must have a rapid transition to renewable energy and we would very much like to have the citizens on board. But the decisions being made at the moment point in all sorts of other directions and delay projects like ours. So do the political ambitions hold up in reality? If it is the case that politically you do not want the citizens' involvement, and that you do not want green electricity at a terrible speed, then you should be brave enough to say so," she says, before continuing:

"But there is a need for local anchoring, so that you can get local enthusiasm about the energy projects. Otherwise, we end up with civil resistance and delays. If people feel that something is not being told, there will be a very healthy and natural skepticism about the decisions that are made.”

When the citizens themselves propose projects that help to convert our society from fossil fuels to renewable energy, according to Helle Munk Ravnborg, it is simply a question of supporting it.

"Small fish can sometimes move a bit faster than the big fish. So setting up a small project like ours of 100 megawatt wind turbines must be able to succeed much faster than any of the large projects that the state is currently working on. So in this way we can speed up the speed of the green transition, " she says.

Bornholm's Sea Wind

7 or 9 wind turbines 5,5-8 km, off Nexø, with a total of 100 MW

Annual production: 450.000 MWt (enough to cover Bornholm's expected consumption, also in 2040)

When: 2026/2027

Location: 5,5-8 km southeast of Nexø

Foundations: Gravitational foundations, which provide good conditions for measures that can promote marine biodiversity

Read more: bornholmshavvind.dk

This article is part of our project 'Yes in my backyard', where we focus on how people help drive the green transition in their local communities.