General

The importance of energy independence in Denmark is underlined in the government plan ‘A Visionary Danish Energy Policy’ (January 2007) and later in its “Energy Strategy 2050” which is aimed at making Denmark independent from the consumption of fossil fuels in 2050. Denmark is known for its high penetration rates of wind power in the electricity system, which locally may result in overcapacity during certain time-frames. Heat supply through distribution networks is common practice in Denmark. The major developments of the district heat sector took place in the 1980s and 1990s, focusing on cogeneration of electricity and heat. According to the present policy Denmark should have at least 30% energy supply from renewable energy in 2025, which corresponds to a wind power production of around 50% of electricity consumption.

According to the Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources the target for the share of energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy in the year 2020 for Denmark is 30% (in the year 2005 the share was 17.0%). The Directive has a mandatory 10 % target for transport to be achieved by all Member States, which refers to renewable sources as a whole, not biofuels alone. 

Renewable energy projections according to the National Renewable Energy Action Plan for Denmark   
The National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) for Denmark was submitted in July 2010. The target according to Annex I of Directive 2009/28/EC is 30% for the year 2020 and the projected NREAP share in that year exactly matches the target.  According to the projection, the most important contribution in the year 2020 is expected from biomass (renewable heating and cooling) (2643 ktoe, 54% of all renewable energy). Second important contribution is expected from wind power (11.7 TWh or 1007 ktoe, 20% of all renewable energy). The third largest contribution is from biomass (renewable electricity) (8.8 TWh or 761 ktoe, 15% of all renewable energy). Wind power contributes with 4.0 GW (11.7 TWh) in the year 2020 (onshore wind 2.6 GW and 6.4 TWh, offshore wind 1.3 GW and 5.3 TWh). For solar photovoltaic the 2020 contribution is projected to be 0.0 GW (0.0 TWh). For solar thermal the 2020 contribution is projected to be 16 ktoe. The two most important biofuels are projected to contribute 167 ktoe (biodiesel) and 94 ktoe (bioethanol / bio-ETBE) by 2020. The renewable electricity production from solid biomass amounts to 6.3 TWh (546 ktoe) and for biogas it is expected to be 2.5 TWh (214 ktoe). The consumption of renewable heat is expected to amount to 2470 ktoe for solid biomass and 165 ktoe for biogas.    

Renewable Electricity: photovoltaic energy (PV)
RES-E support instruments in Denmark were amended in 2008, but the support principles remained the same as previously. Denmark promotes RES-E through a price regulation. Producers receive a variable premium on top of the market price. The sum of the premium and the market price shall not exceed a certain statutory maximum, which depends on the date of grid connection of the system and the source of energy used.

Solar PV in Denmark (connected to the grid after 21 April 2004) benefits from a subsidy, which together with the market price will ensure a tariff of 60 øre/kWh (80.6 €/MWh) for 10 years and 40 øre/kWh (53.8 €/MWh) for the following 10 years. Domestic solar PV (installed behind the meter, up to 6 kW) are exempt from electricity levies and are not eligible for subsidy. There are no requirements for compliance with energy efficiency criteria and there is no set minimum or maximum size for the systems that are eligible for support. A project may take of advantage of both the price subsidy and subsidies from the funding for small RE technologies.
Funding for small RE technologies: The funding will be allocated for the promotion of the spread of smaller capacity electricity producing installations, comprising solar cells, wave power and biogas installations. The government has allocated DKK 25 million (M€ 3.4) per year for four years (starting in 2008).

Future programme changes expected
No important policy changes regarding RES-E, RES-H&C and RES-T are expected in Denmark for the near future. During 2010-11 the current instruments will be evaluated and the government will decide if changes are needed.

Sources
Danish Energy Agency, www.ens.dk (sourced September 2008)

Energy Policy Statement 2008 (The report of the minister of climate and energy pursuant to the Danish Act on Energy Policy Measures), www.ens.dk

Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC (Entry into force on June 25th, 2009), download from http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32009L0028:EN:NOT

Renewable energy policy; country profiles (Re-Shaping). Based on information available in October 2009, http://www.reshaping-res-policy.eu, 2009

The National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAPs) are all published on the Transparency Platform on Renewable Energy: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/transparency_platform/action_plan_en.htm (sourced July - December 2010)   
   
Renewable Energy Projections as Published in the National Renewable Energy Action Plans of the European Member States, http://www.ecn.nl/nreap (sourced December 2010)   

 
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Last update: March 2011

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