The parliamentary parties behind the agreement on the Fehmarn connection are ready to initiate the environmental impact study that will pave the way for the element factory in Rødbyhavn to continue when the Fehmarn Tunnel is finished in 2029. This is according to Kasper Roug, a member of the Folketing for the Social Democracy.
Orientation from Sund & Bælt
The conciliation circle, made up of the Social Democrats, Venstre, Danish People’s Party, Radical Liberal Party, Socialist People’s Party, Conservative People’s Party and Liberal Alliance, received a briefing from Sund & Bælt on Wednesday. The state’s holding company explained here how the process for making the factory permanent can proceed.
Making the element factory permanent will require an amendment to the Construction Act for the Fehmarn connection. The current Construction Act states that all structures must be taken down and the area restored once the tunnel construction has been completed. Including also the factory that will cast the elements that the tunnel will be built from.
Requires amendment of the Construction Act
The first step on the road to an amendment to the Construction Act is to start an environmental assessment, and that work can be started as early as this summer. The law amendment itself will then be able to come to a vote in the Folketing in the next session of the Folketing – i.e. after October 2023.
Factory worth six billion kroner
Sund & Bælt has previously estimated that the element factory alone makes up around ten percent of the approximately DKK 60 billion that the tunnel is expected to run into. In other words, it is a DKK six billion factory that now looks like it can be continued. And there is a lot of sense in that, says Kasper Roug, who is a member of the Danish Parliament for the Social Democrats:
– It will cost around a billion to tear it down again, and it will not make sense. We stand to build a harbor tunnel in Copenhagen, a possible Kattegat connection and foundations for a lot of offshore wind turbines. It will be possible to produce much cheaper if we already have the factory. And the factory has already been paid for – and written off, so it will be really good business, says Kasper Roug, who is both elected and lives in Lolland.
The state retains ownership
According to the presentation from Sund & Bælt, work is being done on a model where it is still the Danish state that owns the factory. An external investor can then obtain a concession to continue operating it for a number of years in return for guaranteeing that the state can dispose of the factory when it is needed for large, national infrastructure projects.
The working harbor next to the construction site in Rødbyhavn is also part of the package when the element factory is to be continued in the future. And according to Kasper Roug, this is a bit of a scoop:
– It is one of Denmark’s largest industrial ports. In the rest of the country, the harbors have gradually become residential areas, but here the harbor is right next to the industrial area, and that will make it much easier to ship large elements out, he says.
No indication of resistance
Can a majority be obtained for an amendment to the Construction Act?
– Yes, that is my personal and clear expectation. There is nothing to indicate that there will be opposition from any parties, says Kasper Roug.
