Solar power in Denmark

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Solar radiation map of Denmark SolarGIS-Solar-map-Denmark-en.png
Solar radiation map of Denmark

Solar power in Denmark amounts to 3,645 MW of grid-connected PV capacity at the end of March 2024, [1] and contributes to a goal to use 100% renewable electricity by 2030 and 100% renewable energy by 2050. [2] [3] Solar power produced 9.3% of Danish electricity generation in 2023, the highest share in the Nordic countries. [4] [5]

Contents

The goal of 200 MW of photovoltaics by 2020 was reached eight years early, in 2012. [6] Projections of future capacity have continued to increase; a total of 9,000 MW (9 GW) is expected to be installed by 2030. [7]

Many solar-thermal district heating plants exist and are planned in Denmark. [8]

Installed capacity

Cumulated PV capacity in megawatt (MW) in Denmark since 1992 [9]
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
Danish solar power development [10] [11] [12] [13]
YearCapacity
(MW)		Watts
per capita		Electricity
generation %
2000<1<1<0.1%
201071.2<0.1%
20201,6242784.1%
20233,5295929.3%

Timeline

Solar panels on Hjelm island Solar panels on Hjelm Island.jpg
Solar panels on Hjelm island

Solar power provided 1.4 TWh, or the equivalent of 4.3% [14] or 3.6% of Danish electricity consumption in 2021. [15] In 2018, the number was 2.8 percent. [16]

Denmark has lower solar insolation than many countries closer to Equator, but lower temperatures increase production. Modern solar cells decrease production by 0.25% per year. [15]

2020

In 2020 The Danish Energy Agency announced 400 MW PV projects in the Nissum Fjord location. [17]

2015

In 2015 only 6.3 MW was applied for out of a funding pool of 41 MW. The funding is valued at 1.02 DKK/kWh for 2015, and 0.88 for 2016. [18] In 2016, a German solar power auction was won by a set of projects with a combined capacity of 50 MW at a price of 5.38 eurocent/kWh, which is unusually low for Northern Europe. The projects are located in Denmark due to EU rules. [19]

2013

In 2013 PV deployment reached 216 MW of new installations, down 32 percent from the previous year.

2012

In 2012, new photovoltaic installations had surged to unprecedented levels in Denmark. This twentyfold increase in photovoltaic capacity in only one year urged the Danish government to cut back its net-metering scheme. In December 2012, Danish parliament reduced the compensation period of net-metering from a yearly to an hourly bases and increased in turn the granted feed-in tariffs. This change in policy intended to reduce the overall attractiveness of further PV deployment while keeping up some incentives for small developments. It also reduced the loss of tax revenues for the government by shifting the costs directly to the electricity consumers. [20] [21]

Solar parks

After years of decreasing costs and subsidies, [22] large companies paid to install new grid-scale photovoltaic power stations with several megawatt capacity without subsidies in rural areas, partially to supply data centers. [23] [24] [25] [26] Some use sheep to tend the land, a case of agrivoltaics. [27]

A 37 MW facility with solar trackers opened in 2020. [28]

List of solar parks

Solar parkLocation Capacity
DC/AC MW 		Annual production
(GWh)		Area size
(hectares)		Build
Cost		CommissioningOwnerRefs.
Vandel 1-3 55°42′N9°12′E / 55.7°N 9.2°E / 55.7; 9.2 (Vandel) 262330PPA2015-2021BeGreen [29]
Kassø 55°01′N9°16′E / 55.02°N 9.26°E / 55.02; 9.26 (Kassø) 3002022 JulyEuropean Energy [30]
Bur/Gedmose 56°23′N8°29′E / 56.38°N 8.49°E / 56.38; 8.49 (Bur/Gedmose) 207222PPA/DKK 500m2021 OctoberBestseller [31] [32] [33] [34]

Location map

Solar heating

Solar heat plants are widespread in Denmark, [35] with a combined heating capacity of 1.1 GW in 2019. [36]

A large solar-thermal district heating plant 55% of the year-round heating needs of the town of Marstal. [37] This is after an expansion of the original plant which supplied one-third of the heating needs, [38] [39] The plant uses seasonal thermal energy storage (STES) in the form of a large lined pits that is filled with gravel and water as the heat storage medium. The storage, which is covered with a layer of insulation, enables solar heat collected primarily in summer to be used year-round. The system includes 75,000 m³ of heat storage pits, 33,000 m² of solar-thermal collector area, and a 1.5 MW heat pump. [37] It also includes a biomass CHP plant for generating electricity and additional heat; however a spokesman said "If I were to calculate the economics for a project today, I would opt for a heat pump," because the cost of wood pellets has greatly increased. "At least, we can always count on solar energy to be free of charge." [37] The expansion of the Marstal facility, completed in 2013, was part of the European Union's SunStore4 project, and can serve as a basic model for such heating plants elsewhere in Europe if local conditions are also taken into account. [40] [41]

In Braedstrup, the community's solar district heating system stores heat in a borehole STES (BTES) facility that uses 19,000 cubic metres of underground strata as a heat battery. It can hold 500 MWh of heat at a temperature of 65 °C. Two water tanks provide additional heat storage. When extracting heat, a 1.5 MW heat pump boosts the temperature to 80 °C, for circulation in the district heating loop. The present system is the first expansion of an original smaller system, and now provides 20% of the community's heat on an annual basis, from a solar collector area of 10,600 square metres. A second expansion is planned, to provide 50% of the heat demand from a total solar collector area of 50,000 square metres and using an enlarged BTES store. The remainder of the demand is provided by electric and gas-fired boilers. [42]

The Braedstrup system is designed to integrate with the national electric grid. The heat pump and electric boiler are used when there is surplus wind power available on the grid, contributing to the stability of the system and maximal use of the wind power. The natural gas boiler is used when this renewable electricity is not available. [42]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Photovoltaic inventory 1st quarter 2024" (PDF). Danish Energy Agency. 22 April 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  2. ↑ Moss, Paul (8 April 2012). "Are Denmark's renewable energy goals wishful thinking?" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  3. ↑ Rosie Frost (18 October 2022). "These EU countries are aiming for 100 per cent clean power by 2030". Euronews . Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  4. ↑ "Norway to mandate solar power for new government buildings from 2024". Reuters. 13 June 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  5. ↑ "European Electricity Review 2024". Ember Climate. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  6. ↑ Denmark, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of. "Denmark reaches 2020-goal for solar energy before time". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.
  7. ↑ "Finland, Denmark and Sweden leading on the green revolution". Rystad Energy. 15 November 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  8. ↑ Slides 10-11 in: Holm L. (2011). Long Therm Experience with Solar District Heating (Marstal). International SDH Workshop, Ferrara, IT, 29–30 September 2011.
  9. ↑ "Global Market Outlook for Photovoltaics 2014-2018" (PDF). www.epia.org. EPIA - European Photovoltaic Industry Association. p. 34. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  10. ↑ "National Survey Report of PV Power Applications in Denmark - 2011" (PDF). International Energy Agency. May 2011. p. 8/21. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  11. ↑ "Trends in Photovoltaic Applications 2021" (PDF). International Energy Agency. April 2021. p. 30/80. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  12. ↑ "Denmark Photovoltaic inventory 4th quarter 2023" (PDF). Danish Energy Agency. 9 January 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  13. ↑ "Share of electricity production from solar - Denmark". Our World in Data. 8 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  14. ↑ Westphal Rasmussen, Jonas (3 January 2022). "5 energifakta, der er værd at bemærke | Dansk Energi". www.danskenergi.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on 4 January 2022.
  15. 1 2 "Solen satte rekord for strømproduktion sidste år". DR (in Danish). 4 January 2022.
  16. ↑ "Solenergi slog rekord i varmt 2018". Energinet.dk. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  17. ↑ "Danish fjord to host 400 MW of solar". List.Solar. 18 March 2020.
  18. ↑ HEDEVANG, KURT (6 November 2015). "Husejere er gået kolde i solceller". FINANS.
  19. ↑ "Bundesnetzagentur erteilt Zuschläge in PV-Ausschreibung mit Dänemark". Bundesnetzagentur. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  20. ↑ Kitzing, Lena (20 June 2013). "Can the Danish government agree on how to handle solar power?". blogs.exeter.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  21. ↑ "Energi-, Forsynings- og Klimaudvalget 2016-17 EFK Alm.del Bilag 221" (PDF) (in Danish). 10 April 2017.
  22. ↑ "Cost milestones show Danish solar is ready for subsidy-free, says govt". PV Tech. 6 December 2019. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020.
  23. ↑ "Google investerer i fem solcelleparker i Danmark". DR (in Danish). 20 September 2019. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. 160 MW
  24. ↑ Villadsen, Steffen (30 November 2020). "Nu åbner Google sit milliarddyre "grønne" datacenter i Fredericia". Version2 (in Danish). Ingeniøren. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021.
  25. ↑ Deruginsky, Louise (3 September 2020). "Apple får strøm fra solceller i Thisted og møller i Esbjerg". TV MIDTVEST (in Danish). 42 MW solar
  26. ↑ "Sådan får 70.000 danskere grøn strøm uden en krone i statsstøtte" [This is how 70,000 Danes get green electricity without a penny in state aid]. Finans (in Danish). 17 March 2021.
  27. ↑ Line Guldager Hansen; Martin Littau Herlevsen (19 September 2022). "Får og lam er de mest effektive viceværter hos solcelleparker". TV SYD (in Danish).
  28. ↑ Bernth, Martin (10 November 2020). "Første kommercielle solcellepark med trackere er tændt i Danmark | GridTech PRO" . pro.ing.dk (in Danish). Ingeniøren.
  29. ↑ Pedersen, Maria Berg Badstue (13 December 2019). "152.000 MWh støttefri strøm: Solcellepark skyder op på nedlagt flyvestation". Energy Supply DK (in Danish). Archived from the original on 10 January 2020.
  30. ↑ Pedersen, Maria Berg Badstue. "European Energy vælger leverandør af 50 MW elektrolyseanlæg". Energy Supply DK.
  31. ↑ "Nordeuropas største solcellepark åbner - og den er dansk". Jern & Maskinindustrien. 6 October 2021. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021.
  32. ↑ Pedersen, Maria Berg Badstue (24 August 2020). "Nordeuropas største solcellepark opføres uden statsstøtte". Energy Supply DK. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020.
  33. ↑ "Nordeuropas største solcellepark åbner ved Holstebro". www.dagensbyggeri.dk (in Danish). 6 October 2021.
  34. ↑ Linddahl, Marie (27 August 2020). "Byggeriet af Nordeuropas største solcellepark er i fuld gang i Bur". TV MIDTVEST (in Danish).
  35. ↑ Holm (2012), slides 10 & 11. Long Therm Experience With Solar District Heating (presentation).
  36. ↑ Hansen, Frederik Marcher (26 August 2019). "Solvarmekapaciteten i den danske fjernvarmeforsyning overstiger 1 GW". Ingeniøren (in Danish).
  37. 1 2 3 Solar Thermal World, 28 July 2014.23 MWth Cover 55 % of Heat Demand of 1,500 Households.
  38. ↑ "Aeroe Map".
  39. ↑ SunStor-4 Project, Marstal, Denmark. The solar district heating system, which has an interseasonal pit storage, is being expanded.
  40. ↑ Euroheat & Power. [SUNSTORE4: 100% Renewable District Heating SUNSTORE4: 100% Renewable District Heating]. Our projects: July 2010 to June 2014.
  41. ↑ "SunStore4 Final Report" (PDF).
  42. 1 2 Solar District Heating (SDH). 2012. Braedstrup Solar Park in Denmark Is Now a Reality! Newsletter. 25 Oct. 2012. SDH is a European Union-wide program.
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