Tag: Denmark

Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen, Denmark

  • Target: Carbon neutral capital by 2025
  • Status: In progress
  • RES: Windpower, solar energy, biomass cogeneration plants, biogas and hybrid buses, electrical and hydrogen-powered cars, and energy retrofitted buildings.
  • Implementation: The city of Copenhagen, Denmark, aims at be a carbon neutral capital by 2025. In 2014, the city received the European Green Capital Award and in 2013 the Climate Leadership Prize. In 2009, Copenhagen City Council adopted a 2015 climate plan for the city, which resulted in a reduction of CO2 emissions by 21% by 2011 in comparison to 2005 figures. To reach the 2025 carbon free target, the city will focus on four main areas: energy consumption, energy production, mobility, and city administration initiatives. It includes the construction of land and offshore wind turbines, energy retrofitted buildings, implementation of Low-Energy Construction in all buildings, and promotion of solar energy. In addition to that, the city plans the switch from coal to biomass in heat and power plants, geothermal plant, more renewable energy in the country´s electricity grid, and the obligation of energy companies to save energy. The capital is also taking into account the stricter European regulations on fuel efficiency, the promotion of cycling, biogas and hybrid buses, and the introduction of electrical and hydrogen-powered cars. The city administration is reducing its own energy consumption in its buildings by 40% in comparison to 2010, and is fuelling all city administration vehicles with electricity, hydrogen, or biofuels.. The constant evaluation and follow-up of the city's Plan is secured through the preparation of an annual report and meeting of various stakeholders for dialogue and benchmarking. In addition to that, three general evaluations of the plan would occur: in 2015-2016 to evaluate the period 2013-2016, in 2019-2020 to evaluate the period 2017-2020, and in 2025-2026 when the final evaluation of the plan will take place.
  • Population: 777,218 (city), 2,057,737 (metro) (2018)
  • Area: 178.46 km2 (68.90 sq mi)(city), 1,767.52 km2(682.44 sq mi)(metro)
  • Link: Carbon Neutral Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark

Denmark

Copenhagen, Denmark

  • Target: Phase out fossil fuel use entirely in all energy sectors (including transportation) by 2050.
  • Status: In progress - In 2011, the share of renewable energy in the transportation mix was less than 1%, compared to a share of approximately 40% in the electricity mix.
  • RES: Wind and solar power, combined heat and power systems, renewable forms of heating such as solar thermal, ground-source heat pumps, and wood-based biomass.
  • Implementation: Denmark’s domestic energy policy aims at 100% transition of the energy system toward renewable energy technologies by significant expansions of wind and solar power as well as the continued installation of combined heat and power (CHP) systems. In the heating sector, Denmark is expanding the use of biogas, solar thermal, ground-source heat pumps, and wood-based biomass. It plans to increase the use of electric vehicles and public transit. Denmark is relying greatly on fiscal policies (feed-in tariff, a net metering framework, environmental taxes) to achieve its 100% renewable energy objectives. There are taxes on fossil fuels and carbon pollution. This increases the costs of gasoline, diesel, coal, and heating oil but makes the use of local, renewable sources of energy more attractive. There are also tax incentives or cash grants to encourage specific technologies, such as electric vehicles. Also is a focus on energy efficiency which correlates to current EU plans (20% reduction in energy use by 2020). This means increasing energy efficiency in existing buildings via extensive retrofitting and raising the standards on all new construction. To increase broader electrification, Denmark is also converting its wind resources into thermal form (e.g. feeding wind power into the district heating system and into on-site water heaters) as well as into battery storage for the transport system. Solar thermal technologies will supply heat directly into the country’s district heating systems. Denmark also plans to expand the use of renewable energy in its island regions, such as the Faroe Islands. Expansion of transmission links with neighbouring Germany and Sweden will allow more imports and exports of renewable electricity. Good public support for the 100% strategy has been due to a high level of energy and environmental awareness among its citizens and its politicians, cultivated since the 1973 oil crisis (and even before). Denmark also benefits from a small population, a highly educated workforce, and a number of reputable private and public organisations to support the strategy's implementation. Denmark expects planned investments to be around EUR 750 Million, with savings in energy costs of around EUR 920 Million, both by 2020.
  • Population: 5,806,015 (2018)
  • Area: 2,220,930 km2(857,510 sq mi)
  • Link: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/10/denmark-wind-windfarm-power-exceed-electricity-demand
Copenhagen, Denmark

Frederikshavn, Denmark

Frederikshavn, Denmark

  • Target: 100% renewable energy by 2030
  • Status: In progress
  • RES: Wind farm, thermal solar collectors, heated water storage, heat pump systems, geothermal energy, and district heating.
  • Implementation: Frederikshavn is a town located in Northern Denmark. In November 2006, a group of Danish energy experts came together for a project called "Energy Camp 06" and  identified Frederikshavn as the ideal location for a model "Energy City," which would shift to 100% renewable sources for electricity, transportation, and heating by 2015. Frederikshavn was chosen because it was a good size for the testing of energy technologies, there were already existing electricity and heating production plants as well as a wind farm research facility, and there was political will to carry out ambitious plans.
    In February 2007, the Frederikshavn City Council approved the Energy City plan, which would be completed over 3 phases. First, it would reach a 40% renewable energy target by 2009. Second, its renewable energy share would annually increase to reach 100% by 2015, with the capacity to exchange energy with surrounding areas. Third, the 100% renewable energy system would be further developed to enable Denmark as a whole to transform to 100% renewable energy by 2030.
    The first phase involved implementing 4 projects, offshore wind  project with a total capacity of 25 MW, 8000 m2 of thermal solar collectors that annually generate about 4 GWh with 1500 cubic meters of water heat storage and an absorption heat pump at the existing CHP plant, a facility that upgrades biogas from a local plant to natural gas quality that fuels cars and is used in the existing cogeneration plants, and finally a heat pump system at the town's waste water treatment plant that extracts 4 GWh of heat from the waste water and produce 6 GWh of heat for the district heating supply. To reach a 100% renewable energy supply by 2015, a waste incineration CHP plant was built. This project prioritises recycling before incineration, the remaining relatively small amount of waste is used to create heat and power via CHP technology. The heating grid was also expanded. Biomass boilers met industry heat demand, while homes not on the district heating grid are  retrofitted to use a combination of solar thermal and electric heat pumps. Then was the shift to electric, plug-in hybrid, and biogas in transportation. A  biogas plant was then built  for electricity, heat, and transportation fuel, using34 million tons of manure per year to produce biogas for the production of methanol, which can be used for district heating. Geothermal energy combined with heat pumps is added to the district heating supply. The rest of the city's energy demand is met by a 15 MW biogas CHP plant and  a 40 MW wind farm.
  • Population: 23,423 (2018)
  • Area: 651.04 km2 (251.37 sq mi)
  • Link: https://stateofgreen.com/en/partners/energy-city-frederikshavn/solutions/master-plan-for-renewable-energy-2030/
Frederikshavn, Denmark

Lolland, Denmark

Lolland, Denmark

  • Target: 100% renewable energy
  • Status: Achieved
  • RES: Wind energy
  • Implementation: By 2006, the island of Lolland off the coast of Denmark was already producing 50% more power from wind than it could consume. It was decided that the best use of the excess renewable electricity was for the production of hydrogen for a hydrogen fuel cell plant. A hydrogen fuel cell is similar to a battery but requires a continuous feed of hydrogen and oxygen to work. Energy is needed to split water molecules (H2O) into its components hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O2). By using wind energy for this purpose, the hydrogen fuel cell plant was 100% renewable. Several major milestones in fuel cell cogeneration development on Lolland are of note. In November 2006, the first demonstration facility for residential Hydrogen Fuel Cell Combined Heat and Power (CHP)was built in the island's town of Nakskov and began producing both electricity and usable heat . In 2008, the facility was connected to existing island buildings. Small 2 kW Hydrogen Fuel Cell CHP units were also installed in 5 homes to show that houses could become their own efficient, secure, decentralized production units of heat and power, without any need for large, centralized utilities. Between 2010 and 2012, the decentralized Fuel Cell CHP program was expanded to 35-40 homes.
  • Population: 62,578 (2013)
  • Area: 1,243 km2 (480 sq mi)
  • Link: http://climatebuildings.dk/vestenskov.php
Lolland, Denmark

Ringkøbing-Skjern, Denmark

Gammelsogn, Ringkøbing Skjern, Denmark

  • Target: 100% renewable energy by 2020
  • Status: In progress
  • RES: Bio-energy, wind power, new plus-energy buildings, hydrogen vehicles and hydrogen service stations, and solar power.
  • Implementation: Ringkøbing-Skjern is the largest municipality in Denmark, established in 2007. At its conception, the municipality only met 20% of its energy from renewable sources. However, Ringkøbing-Skjern aims to produce within its boundaries enough renewable energy to cover all consumption by its citizens and businesses by 2020. It has set out an Energy 2020 plan, which aims to have local people, businesses, institutions and non-profits implement energy projects, from testing to development to implementation, in order to stimulate sustainable economic growth within the municipality.

    The Energy 2020 plan includes a top-down and bottom-up leadership structure. From the top, the 100% plan would be lead by the Energy Board, which is made up of local business and organisation representatives, along with municipal officials and staff. The Board would advise the local governing Council, which appoints a Secretariat to coordinate the effort and provide information, marketing and an energy action plan. From the community level, projects of all sizes would be implemented by local citizens, businesses and non-profit organizations. Impetus to engage would be motivated by expected energy savings, environmental benefits, and economic opportunities.

    In relation to the energy target, the plan envisages different types of renewable installations. Ringkøbing-Skjern will take advantage of its large land area and the energy that can be made from farm animal waste and plants. New wind turbines are expected to generate twice as much power as the whole municipality consumes. New buildings will be "plus energy," that is, able to generate more energy than the use. The Council will continue to operate hydrogen vehicles and hydrogen service stations, and public and individual transport are to run on biofuel and electricity. Other technologies currently being used include thermal heat, fjord heat, solar power, solar cells, and wave energy.

  • Population: 57,148 (2014)
  • Area: 1,494.56 km² (577.05 sq mi)
  • Link: https://www.energi2020.dk/english
Gammelsogn, Ringkøbing Skjern, Denmark

Samsø, Denmark

Samsø, Denmark

  • Target: Move from a 100% RE island to a fossil free island by 2030
  • Status: Achieved - Samsø is the world´s first island powered by 100% renewable energy. In progress - It is almost totally carbon free and uses 100% RE in all sectors except for transport. 
  • RES: Eleven land-based wind turbines and almost all heat production is powered by woodchips, straw and solar panels. The overall wind power generation is sufficient to offset the CO2 emissions of the private vehicles used on the island since all other vehicles (tractors, ferry-boats and government cars) use locally-produced biodiesel or are powered by renewable electricity.
  • Implementation: In 1997, a competition for local communities and islands was launched to present plans for a 100% RE scenario. Samsø was the winner of the contest, being one of four islands and one peninsula that took part. The prize was a national fund to implement the island's renewable energy actions. A decade later, Samsoe generated more clean wind power than it consumed. The island´s energy model relies highly on participation by local citizens and businesses in the planning and implementation of RE projects. For instance, the wind turbines belong to the locals, resident associations or the city´s council. In 2006, the island established the Samsø Energy Academy in order to facilitate research and disseminate knowledge. In 2007, it was opened to the public and now it organizes exhibitions and workshops for politicians, journalists, and students from all over the world. The Samsø Energy Academy is a conference center used by companies, scientists and politicians to discuss renewable energy-related topics. Although the island is 100% powered by renewable resources, it still uses fossil fuels for local transport and heating. Therefore, the municipality has recently decided to move from a 100% RE island to a fossil free island by 2030, which includes transport on the island and to/from being free from fossil fuels.
  • Population: 3,724 (2017)
  • Area: 112 km2 (43 sq mi)
  • Link: https://energiakademiet.dk
Samsø, Denmark

Thisted, Denmark

Thisted, Denmark

  • Target: 100% self-sufficiency in electricity supply from renewable sources.
  • Status: Achieved
  • RES: Wind power, geothermal energy, biogas, solar photovoltaics, and district heating.
  • Implementation: The municipality of Thisted is located in the north-west section of Jutland region in Denmark. Today it is seen as a pioneer in the grassroots development of renewable energy based on decentralised energy. In fact, the successful transition towards 100% renewable electricity in Thisted was not the result of a political decision, but has its origins in the gradual expansion of private investments into the utilisation of renewable energy since the early 1980s. Today, all but one of the 252 wind turbines surrounding Thisted are privately owned. In total, 80% of Thisted’s total electricity demand is produced by wind power, while the remaining 20% are provided from biogas plants. Additional production of energy comes from privately owned solar power and geothermal plants that cover 85% of Thisted’s heating demand with renewables. Twisted is pursuing its energy goal based on an alliance of citizens, grassroots organisations and local companies, as well as the commitment of the municipal administration. The involvement of the community is particular key in providing the finance of the renewable energy systems. For example, many farmers have invested in wind power and these investments have paid off quickly, generating benefits after 6-7 years. Aside from the surplus energy that is sold and fed into the general grid, agricultural byproducts are able to be processed into bioethanol, biogas, or biopellets, constituting an additional energy supply from renewable sources. At the same time, Thisted’s citizens are saving one third of their energy costs for heating in comparison to oil-based heating systems. Thisted municipality has inspired innovation and has since established test centres for the development of new approaches in renewable energy production based on wave energy, as well as wind, solar and biogas. Moreover, the community plans to build a virtual power plant in order to be able to manage the decentralised energy supplies more efficiently, such as temporarily shifting the energy supply to the most economical production source.
  • Population: 43,993 (2016)
  • Area: 1,072 km²
  • Link: Thisted Municipality
Thisted, Denmark