Ditlev Engel: Why Would You Tax Something You Want More Of?!

Taxation of electricity produced by offshore wind and other renewables, as well as taxing these technologies, is something the industry needs to stand up against if it wants to see even lower costs and accelerate the energy transition, according to Ditlev Engel, CEO at DNV GL Energy. 

In most countries, the industry is talking about cost of energy and lowering cost of energy, but the real matter should be taxation of electricity, according to Engel.

“Taxation is what most people are paying for the most, it is not the cost of generation. Therefore, the real question here is not about the technology, but about how most regulators and politicians have decided to tax it and, if we are trying to meet the goals from the Paris Agreement, will they tax the electricity and why would they do that,” Engel said.

“The reason we taxed it in the old days is because we wanted to lower CO₂ emissions, so why would you now tax something you want more of?!”

Speaking about the energy transition at the opening session of the Offshore Wind Conference 2018 in Amsterdam, Engel said that the energy transition can only happen with public support and with people understanding why this is being done.

It is the industry’s obligation to make sure people understand the challenges and what needs to be achieved, Ditlev Engel emphasised.

At the session that took place on 22 October, he also presented DNV GL’s Energy Transition Outlook, saying that the report is not offering a selection of scenarios, but that it is a forecast based on scrutinised information and the company’s involvement and expertise in the energy sector.

In a short chat with our team after the A new dawn for offshore wins session, Engel summarised the main points of the report. Learn more by watching the video:

Reporting: Nadja Skopljak, Rebecca van den Berge – McFedries, Jeroen Tresfon; Editing: Adrijana Buljan, Adnan Duraković