The government's ambition is to make Denmark a green frontrunner in global climate action that inspires and encourages the rest of the world. Our goal is 70% emission reductions by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050. This means that by 2050 Denmark should be able to produce enough renewable energy to cover the total Danish energy consumption.
Wind Power
Wind energy has developed from being an upcoming and strongly subsidized technology to a technology that produces cheap and green electricity
In 2020 wind power covered 46 % of the total electricity supply in Denmark. Furthermore, the mounting of new wind turbines ashore is one of the cheapest ways of expanding electricity production. In this way, wind power is one of the most common types of renewable energy in Denmark and one of the most competitive kinds of sustainable energy compared to other kinds of energy. Wind turbines can both be established onshore and offshore.
A broad coalition in the Danish parliament has decided to establish two energy islands by the early 2030s. One will be constructed as an artificial island in the North Sea and one will be established at the Danish island Bornholm. The energy island at Bornholm will have an offshore wind capacity of 2 GW while the island in the North Sea will have an initial capacity of 3 GW offshore wind but with the potential of expanding it to 10 GW. The energy islands will collect and distribute power generated by surrounding wind farms to Denmark and Europe marking a new era for wind energy in Denmark and in the world.
Read more about the energy island here.
Solar energy
In Denmark, solar energy is used in two ways:
1) Solar cells for production of electricity. In 2020, Danish solar cell plants produced an amount of electricity corresponding to more than 3 % of the total Danish electricity supply.
2) Solar collectors are used for heating of buildings and for production of district heating by means of sunbeams heating the water. Solar collectors are often combined with a heat pump.
Bio-energy
Bio-energy is energy stored in organic material or biomass. Biomass can be incinerated directly or be processed for various kinds of fuels e.g. wood pellets, gasification or bioethanol. Some kinds of biomass are vegetables such as e.g. straw, wood and alga. Other kinds of biomass are animal such as livestock manure and animal fats.
Bio-energy represents around two thirds of Denmark's total consumption of sustainable energy, as several large power plants within the last decade have changed from fossil energy to wood pellets, wood chips or straw. In order to ensure sustainable use of biomass, Denmark has introduced ambitious legal requirements for the sustainability of biomass used to generate energy. The requirements went into force on 30 June 2021.The production of biogas is growing fast and is expected to continue the growth towards 2030.
Geothermal Energy
Geothermal energy is hot water in underground reservoirs. The temperature in the underground layers rises proportionally with the depth, as heat flows from the inner of the earth towards the surface of the earth. The temperature at a depth of 1-3 kilometers is about 40–80 °C.
The heat in the underground water reservoirs can be used for heat supply in the district heating system. There are a few plants in Denmark today (in Thisted, Amager and Sønderborg), but only one is operational (Thisted). Geothermal energy utilization is still expensive and has not yet been developed in larger scale. In 2020, a Geothermal Energy Task Force was established to analyze the geothermal potential in Denmark and possible support mechanisms.