New rules restrict international student numbers, rare energy plant opens, Ørsted sells off part of wind farm and more news from Denmark this Tuesday.
International student enrolments down under new rules
The number of applications from international students from Bangladesh and Nepal for so-called ‘non-accredited’ courses has fallen sharply after new rules were introduced in May, news wire Ritzau reports.
The rules were changed because the government wants to stop students from the two countries from working in low-paying jobs using the work rights that were provided by the study visas.
Under the new rules, study visas for the courses in question do not allow the holder to work. Neither do they allow accompanying family members to reside in Denmark.
The matter is separate from a more recent crackdown by the government on university international students from the same two countries, whose degree programmes had Danish accreditation.
READ ALSO: When is a study programme ‘unaccredited’ in Denmark?
The new rules for unaccredited courses came into effect on May 2nd.
The number of applications for the courses fell from 523 for Bangladesh and Nepal combined in April to 15 in May, according to Ritzau.
Rare low-carbon hydrogen plant inaugurated in Fredericia
Denmark inaugurated one of Europe’s few low-carbon hydrogen plants on Monday, a sector touted as a key to cleaner energy but plagued with challenges.
Using eight electrolysers powered by solar and wind energy, the HySynergy project will produce around eight tonnes of hydrogen a day in its first phase, to be transported to a nearby refinery and to Germany.
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Originally scheduled to open in 2023, the HySynergy project, based in Fredericia in western Denmark, has suffered from delays.
HySynergy will initially produce 20 megawatts, but “our ambitions grow far beyond” that, Jakob Korsgaard, founder and CEO of Everfuel, which owns 51 percent of the project, told news agency AFP.
Ørsted sells half of UK offshore wind farm
Struggling Danish wind power company Ørsted announced yesterday it had sold half of its Hornsea 3 Offshore Wind Farm project in the UK to US investment firm Apollo for about $6 billion.
Under the deal, Apollo — which has a reputation of investing in distressed companies — will both buy a 50 percent ownership stake and cover half of the remaining construction costs for the project.
Ørsted called the sale an important step in its funding plan that would help it manage its finances more effectively.
When the deal is finalised, Ørsted will receive about $3.1 billion according to AFP. That includes $1.5 billion for the equity stake itself, and an initial payment of $1.5 billion toward construction costs.
Government could change construction law in bid to boost affordable housing
The government says it wants to incentivise construction of subsidised, social housing (almene boliger) by reducing costs for developers.
To do this, it will raise the maximum construction cost for housing of this type, the Finance and Housing ministries said yesterday.
“This is an initiative that is hugely significant, especially for Copenhagen and Aarhus, as it creates opportunities to build more public housing,” Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil, Social Democratic candidate for mayor in Copenhagen said according to Ritzau.
More on this story here.
