Danish wind turbine and solar cell owners will keep receiving fines for producing too much green power, after Tax and Growth Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt of the Moderates admitted during a consultation that the practice is dumb, DR reported.
Nils-Jørn Krejberg from Lemvig has himself received a fine of 10,000 kroner. He said it was interesting to hear the minister evade the question again and again. In the end, he said, the minister acknowledged it was a mess that they had to work on further.
Krejberg said it is somewhere between comical and tragic that "the greenest government ever" punishes green power producers. "It seems idiotic, simply. It seems like an obstacle to a green transition," he said.
He said his own turbine has produced 220,000 kilowatt, and that the fine came over fractions of minutes. He also said he knows solar and wind owners who keep a heater running at full blast with open windows, only to hold their power production down and avoid fines.
He said the minister promised nothing, so he remains skeptical. "It's also about politicians' credibility when they say they want to reduce CO2, and afterwards punish those who help with it," he said. The consultation was called by Mathilde Hjort Bressum of Venstre and Hans Kristian Skibby of Danmarksdemokraterne.
Krejberg hopes they hold on to their pressure on the minister.