The green transition is no longer a separate climate policy track. It has become part of the economic competition for investments, jobs, and new industrial clusters. Municipalities with access to large amounts of green electricity are stronger when capital and companies choose locations. This logic has worked to Lolland's advantage for several years. The municipality has had a rare strong position as an energy municipality, and green electricity has been a concrete attraction in efforts to attract new, energy-intensive investments. It is this position that has now been put at risk with new political signals and a constitution in Lolland Municipality that is based on opposition to the green transition.
What has happened is simple in itself. European Energy had three large solar parks in process at Tryghuse, Torpevej, and Holeby. The projects have faced growing local opposition with arguments about landscape, nature, neighbour nuisances, and land. The opposition has been politically effective, and after the municipal election, it has gathered into a council majority against the parks. This means that the three specific facilities are now being dropped. In practice, it is the local opposition that has overturned the municipal part of the project, and this is crucial because the solar panels were not a standalone renewable energy project. They were developed by European Energy as the power basis for the same company's planned Power-to-X facility in Nakskov.
An almost certain farewell
Power-to-X is the part of the green industry where electricity is converted into new fuels and chemical products, which simply put is green fuel. This is what makes PtX plants attractive. They convert local green electricity into a product that can be sold globally. However, the entire business idea depends on stable access to renewable energy close to the plant.
Thus, no and consequence are inextricably linked. When European Energy's solar parks are cancelled, the energy plan on which the Power-to-X project was to be built also disappears. An investment of this magnitude cannot be realised without secure, local, and long-term access to green electricity on an industrial scale. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the Power to X plant in Nakskov will also be cancelled when the electricity basis is politically removed.
Rambøll has calculated it
Rambøll published a national analysis of the societal value of renewable energy last week. Here they document the value of RE projects arising in several layers, which typically reinforce each other over time.
The first layer is the direct effects. Large plants lead to large investments, many man-years in the construction phase and subsequent operation. Rambøll calculates that 1 gigawatt of solar energy creates around 900 million DKK in value added and up to 1,800 man-years in construction and operation. The three parks in Lolland together correspond to approximately 2 gigawatts. When they are dropped, billion values and thousands of man-years disappear from the municipality's development track.
The second layer is the indirect effects. Renewable energy projects drive local value chains. Contractors, installers, consultants, transport, ports, and service industries receive orders both during construction and in operation.
The third layer can be called derived consumption effects. When more jobs and activity arise, people spend more money locally. This provides extra turnover in shops, restaurants, and other service sectors. It is not a separate industry gain, but a natural consequence of large projects boosting employment.
The fourth layer is the structural effects. Ramboll points out that municipalities with large renewable energy capacity over time build business clusters and attract new energy-intensive companies, technical skills, and specialised jobs. This is where a municipality with low tax capacity can change its economic trajectory. Lolland is among the energy municipalities Ramboll highlights as keys in the national expansion, precisely because the municipality already produces large amounts of green electricity and has room for more.
Risk of choosing Lolland
Now that the solar panels have been dropped, it affects both short and long term. In the short term, local businesses lose construction tasks and the follow-up orders that normally come with large energy projects. In the medium term, the area loses a significant foundation for a green supply chain throughout the area. In the long term, the possibility of building the industrial cluster, which was intended around Power-to-X, is weakened because it only arises when the energy foundation is established. At the same time, the decision sends a signal to investors that large renewable energy projects on Lolland may encounter political roadblocks. In a sector where capital is mobile, this increases the risk of choosing Lolland in the future.
The power-to-x plant was planned as an investment of 2 to 3 billion kroner. When the three solar parks are gone, the basis for that investment is also gone. Lolland thus not only loses three solar parks, but an entire green industrial opportunity, which could have attracted jobs, subcontractors and lasting business growth to the municipality.
