4 THE RoLE oF HoUSEHoLDS IN DANISH ENERGY PoLICY …
37
attention in the late 1980s, politicians forced electricity companies to
invest in wind turbines. Gradually, wind power gained an increasing role
in the system, comprising 43% of annual average electricity demand in
2017 (Energistatistik 2017).
The expansion of district heating and CHP was another result of the
oil crises, which encouraged considerable heat planning efforts aimed
at decentralization. Previously, nearly all electricity was produced by
large central power stations, which were gradually converted to CHP
to provide district heating to larger cities. In addition, existing local district heating plants were converted to also generate electricity, and the
number of decentralized CHP plants increased considerably, standing at
about 400 today (Dansk Fjernvarme 2018).
When the oil crises emerged, fossil fuel extraction from the Danish part
of the North Sea was in its infancy. The government decided to establish a
system that could make use of the related natural gas to replace oil in residential heating. Two collective pipe-based systems were thus established:
direct provision of natural gas to households (and other sectors) and district heating based on CHP. Heat planning stipulated which areas should
be supplied in which way. By and large, both the electricity system and
CHP plants were collectively owned by consumers or municipalities until
about the year 2000, after which the system underwent liberalization and
partial privatization (Hvelplund 2007). Combined with legislation that
allowed municipalities to commit consumers to connect to the collective
systems, this form of ownership enabled a remarkable transformation to
a more rational energy utilization. While about 25% of households were
connected to district heating in 1975, today about 65% of households
use district heating, while 15% are heated with natural gas (Wistoft et al.
1992: 204; Energistyrelsen 2018). In an EU context, a similar penetration of district heating occurs only in the Baltic countries. 1
Resource extraction from the North Sea also provided oil, and, as production increased, the dependency on imports fell. The degree of self-sufficiency
in total energy use grew from 5% in 1980 to 52% in 1990, and in 1997
Denmark became energy self-sufficient (Dietrich and Morthorst 2016).
1 http://www.euroheat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/2015-Country-by-country-Statistics-overview.pdf.
37
attention in the late 1980s, politicians forced electricity companies to
invest in wind turbines. Gradually, wind power gained an increasing role
in the system, comprising 43% of annual average electricity demand in
2017 (Energistatistik 2017).
The expansion of district heating and CHP was another result of the
oil crises, which encouraged considerable heat planning efforts aimed
at decentralization. Previously, nearly all electricity was produced by
large central power stations, which were gradually converted to CHP
to provide district heating to larger cities. In addition, existing local district heating plants were converted to also generate electricity, and the
number of decentralized CHP plants increased considerably, standing at
about 400 today (Dansk Fjernvarme 2018).
When the oil crises emerged, fossil fuel extraction from the Danish part
of the North Sea was in its infancy. The government decided to establish a
system that could make use of the related natural gas to replace oil in residential heating. Two collective pipe-based systems were thus established:
direct provision of natural gas to households (and other sectors) and district heating based on CHP. Heat planning stipulated which areas should
be supplied in which way. By and large, both the electricity system and
CHP plants were collectively owned by consumers or municipalities until
about the year 2000, after which the system underwent liberalization and
partial privatization (Hvelplund 2007). Combined with legislation that
allowed municipalities to commit consumers to connect to the collective
systems, this form of ownership enabled a remarkable transformation to
a more rational energy utilization. While about 25% of households were
connected to district heating in 1975, today about 65% of households
use district heating, while 15% are heated with natural gas (Wistoft et al.
1992: 204; Energistyrelsen 2018). In an EU context, a similar penetration of district heating occurs only in the Baltic countries. 1
Resource extraction from the North Sea also provided oil, and, as production increased, the dependency on imports fell. The degree of self-sufficiency
in total energy use grew from 5% in 1980 to 52% in 1990, and in 1997
Denmark became energy self-sufficient (Dietrich and Morthorst 2016).
1 http://www.euroheat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/2015-Country-by-country-Statistics-overview.pdf.