PKA and PensionDanmark announce big renewables push during Anholt wind farm inauguration

Against the backdrop of today’s inauguration of the 400MW Anholt wind park in Denmark’s Kattegat sea, PKA and PensionDanmark, the Danish pension schemes that own 50% of Anholt, pledged to increase their investment in infrastructure dramatically by 2018, with a major emphasis on renewables. PKA said that by 2018, its infrastructure investment would triple, rising to DKK20bn (€2.7bn) from around DKK7.5bn now. The current figure includes DKK2.5bn the pension administrator has invested to build Anholt and another DKK2bn allocated for Butendiek, a 288MW offshore wind park being constructed off the German island of Sylt. PKA owns 20% of Anholt, while its peer, PensionDanmark, has a 30% stake. The other half is in the hands of state-owned Danish energy firm DONG, the developer and operator of the wind park. Anholt, a 88 square kilometre facility, can provide enough power to meet 4% of Danish electricity needs. PKA also owns 22.5% of Butendiek, which when completed in 2015, will provide 370,000 households with power.“PKA has for many years invested in climate protection, and we will continue to do so,” said Peter Damgaard Jensen, PKA’s chief executive, during today’s ceremony. “This is in part because we believe that it is possible to create a good return for our members and make a positive difference at the same time.” Jensen did not specify the return from Anholt that PKA expects. Meanwhile, PensionDanmark CEO Tober Pedersen Möger said his scheme would invest another DKK12bn in infrastructure over the next four to five years, adding that the focus would be on clean energy production and transmission. Like Jensen, Möger did not quantify the return expected from Anholt, saying only that it would be “attractive.” In attendance at the Anholt inauguration were the Danish Queen Margrethe II and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. An administrator for five pension funds that mainly insure employees in the Danish health care sector, PKA looks after €26bn in assets. PensionDanmark is a multi-employer scheme that holds €18.5bn in assets.