Electricity plays an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. By converting from fossil fuels to the use of green electricity, a large part of emissions will disappear. Areas in which electrification pose a relevant alternative to fossil fuels include heating, transportation and parts of the industrial production processes.
Therefore, electrifying Denmark is a is a very central tool in the fulfillment of the Danish government’s ambition of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions in Denmark by 70 pct. in 2030 compared to 1990. After 2030, electrification will continue to support the transition to a 100 pct. climate-neutral society. In June 2021, the Danish government presented a strategy that sets a clear direction for the electrification of Denmark.
Security of supply
It is crucial that we can rely on electricity supply to ensure a well-functioning society. High security of electricity supply will however be increasingly challenged by the closure of older power plants and the increasing share of fluctuating, green energy in the energy system.
Today Denmark has one of the most reliable electricity systems in the world. Over the last 10 years, Danish electricity consumers have had power in their sockets 99.996% of the time, equivalent to approximately 20 minutes of annual outage on average per consumer. Most disruptions are due to failures in the local electricity network. So far, there have never been disruptions of electricity supply due to lack of production capacity.
The Danish TSO Energinet and the Danish Energy Agency are closely monitoring and analyzing the development in the security of electricity supply in order to ensure the best possible balance between high security of electricity, affordability as well as ensuring a successful green transition by integrating renewable energy. Once a year the Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities announces the planned level of security of electricity supply 10 years ahead.
District heating
District heating, which supplies two thirds of all Danish households with heat, is a corner stone in the Danish Energy system. Today, the supply of district heating is produced from a mix of technologies including combined heat and power plants, heat boilers, surplus heat from industry, solar-thermal panels, and electricity based technologies such as heat pumps and electric boilers. The sector emitted 4.9 million tonnes CO2e in 2019 excluding emissions from waste-to-energy plants.
With the Danish Climate agreement for energy and industry in June 2020, a political decision has been made to modernize the regulation of district heating in order to facilitate a transition towards a district heating sector in 2030 based completely on renewable energy.
Natural gas and fermentation gas
Natural gas is the common term for gas, exploited from the subsoil. Natural gas consists mainly of methane. The Danish production of oil and natural gas started in 1972, and historically Denmark has had a net-export of energy including natural gas. Based on the actual knowledge about reserves, the Danish Energy Agency assumes that the supply of natural gas will be depleted by 2045-2050. Due to the increasing production of biomethane, the Danish consumption of natural gas is decreasing. In Denmark, most biomethane is produced by biomass - in the form of livestock manure and other organic waste - being pumped into a hermetically sealed reactor vessel.