Denmark smart grid playbook: The road to happiness?

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Editor’s note: This is the third in our series of Smart Grid News “playbooks” focused on smart grid development around the world.

By Liz Enbysk

SGN Managing Editor

Denmark is one of the happiest countries in the world, according to Gallup. It's also among the most progressive on the clean energy front – pioneering commercial wind power back in the 1970s and vowing to achieve independence from fossil fuels by 2050.

And from the outside looking in, it appears the Danish people are genuinely proud of what their country is doing. Scroll down to discover some of the reasons for that in our Denmark smart grid playbook.

Progressive public policies

Denmark's official website suggests that being a highly developed industrialized country in a temperate climate provides the incentive to find ways to extract the maximum benefits from energy efficiency and renewable energy. And as a 2006 Smart Grid News piece pointed out, strong government mandates, subsidies and progressive policies have been steering Denmark toward a cleaner energy future – for decades now.

With an average 10.85 wind turbines per 100 square kilometers, according to UK's Guardian newspaper, Denmark is a world leader in wind energy. About 20% of its electricity today comes from wind. At the UN climate convention in Copenhagen in 2009, Denmark forecast that it will draw on renewable energy for 33% of its energy needs by 2020, largely by increasing wind production and biomass. It touts its "fully financed" strategy for achieving independence from fossil fuels by 2050 as the first of its kind in the world. But the pieces are falling into place.

More wind and a supergrid

In February, the Danish government gave a final okay to a planned 200 turbine, 600 MW offshore wind farm at Kriegers Flak off the island of Mon in the Baltic Sea. In partnership with Germany, the idea is to create an offshore electricity grid  that, when operating sometime in the 2018-20 timeframe, will supply electricity to some 500,000 homes.

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The Kriegers Flak project is one piece of what is referred to as a European "supergrid"– a compact by 10 nations bordering the North Sea to develop an offshore grid that links renewable energy generation in member countries. The first piece, the undersea BritNed high-voltage power cable that links the UK and The Netherlands, was put in operation earlier this year. Transmission powerhouse ABB was selected earlier this year to supply its HVCD Light technology for yet another piece – an undersea power link between Denmark and Norway.

Promoters of the supergrid believe it can eventually provide Europe with an energy source that rivals the Middle East's oil capacity. But it will take time. As Wilfried Breuer of Siemens told the Guardian, "The supergrid will be built, but gradually. It's not one investment like a highway. It will develop over 10-15 years, leg by leg."

Siemens built the AC-DC conversion stations for the BritNet powerline and is also a major player in Denmark. For example:

·         Siemens installs its first 6 MW wind turbine in Hovsore, Denmark

·         Siemens will invest 150 million euros in Denmark wind-power operations

But there are a lot of major players on the smart grid landscape in Denmark, including some home-grown companies like Vestas Wind Systems. Along with Germany-based Siemens, Vestas is a dominant player in the offshore wind turbine space.

You may also be interested in:

·        Samsø - Denmark's renewable energy island

·         Energy system analysis of 100% renewable energy systems - the case of Denmark in years 2030 and 2050

DENMARK SMART GRID PROJECTS

Here are a few of the many smart grid related projects and pilots under way in Denmark:

·         The Cell Project -- This month Denmark's major energy supplier, Energinet.dk, begins final testing on what it's calling the world's largest intelligent power system. The basic concept is divide the power system into virtual autonomous grid areas (or cells) for more flexible and advanced monitoring and control options and turning the entire cell area into an intelligent, active distribution system. Learn more >>

·         The Edison Project -- Denmark plans to develop a national charging network using electric vehicle batteries as a storage reservoir to offset the intermittency of wind, which means it will have to communicate intelligently with the electric grid. DONG Energy, the country's big power supplier, is working with IBM, Siemens and others as part of a consortium to develop the infrastructure. Learn more >> Meanwhile, San Diego-based Nuvve is using its aggregation platform in Denmark to amass energy stored in EV batteries for use when the grid requires it.

·         The unlimited range EV – Better Place, an EV networks and services company based in Denmark, earlier this year unveiled an "unlimited range" EV that basically separates the battery from the car by establishing a battery switching and service station network across the country. EV owners simply stop and swap a battery at a station when a recharge is needed. Learn more >>

You may also be interested in:

·         NRGi chooses eMeter for large-scale smart grid project in Denmark

·         Echelon's NES System contributes to "nearly flawless" performance in Denmark smart grid

·         Video: Anders Eldrup, CEO of  DONG Energy, on wind power and EVs

·         Video: Denmark wind turbine generators powering transitionto EVs

·         White paper: Smart grid in Denmark

·         Why Europe has a higher smart grid IQ than America

DENMARK ENGLISH LANGUAGE RESOURCES

·         Energinet.dk

·         Danish Energy Agency

·         Ministry of Climate and Energy

·         DONG Energy

·         Vision 2030 for Denmark

·         Denmark.dk – Climateand Energy

More playbooks:

China smart grid playbook: Should we steal a page or two?