Sixty new wind turbines in the next decade

The Faroe Islands need 60 new wind turbines over the next decade to have any hope of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, as required by the Paris agreement.

“The new proposal builds on previous work done in relation to the planned transition to green energy,” says Sigurð í Jákupstovu, CEO of the Environmental Agency, who heads the working group which has drafted the new energy and climate proposal.

“We have updated the figures and added a detailed plan for how to shift from oil to electricity over the next decade.”

He describes the new proposal as a catalogue of specific measures designed to speed up the transition to sustainable energy and to avoid the shortcomings of the previous climate policy initiative from 2009.

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“We have an entirely new focus on sustainable energy compared to what we had 12 years ago,” he says.

“Wind power will play a crucial part in our new plan. In addition to new turbines, it is also important to build a strong energy storage system.”

According to the proposal, this initiative will cost up to DKK 5 billion over the next decade. This figure includes 60 wind turbines, energy storage systems, pump systems and solar installations.

“This is a lot of money, but we must remember that our oil imports cost about DKK 1 billion per year. So with a successful green transition, we will not only have clean energy; we will be saving money in the long term.”

Read the Faroese version of this article here

Translated by prosa.fo

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