EU Heating Strategy expected to kick-start DH development

An analysis covering the export potentials for Danish district heating system and component companies expects the district heating development in Europe to increase in the next 10 years. District heating networks in Europe are expected to grow significantly because of the great focus on phasing out fossil fuels as a result of the COP21 agreement, the new EU Strategy on Heating and Cooling, and the tendency towards urbanisation in Europe where district heating is seen as a solution to the heating needs of the many people moving to the cities of Europe.

Since district heating is so highly developed in Denmark covering 64% of households, the report expects the Danish export of district heating solutions to increase with 60% in the coming years, with a 6.5% increase each year going from 6.6 billion DKK to almost 11 billion in 2025. Additionally, the Danish district heating is 58% renewable which makes it a significant contribution to reaching the climate goals.

- A lot of European countries are not as good at using the excess heat from production as Denmark is. Once they open their eyes to that opportunity, district heating will increase. At the same time it has the added bonus of both solving the climate challenges and creating higher security of supply in a Europe that prefers to be independent of Russian gas, said Head of Analysis in the Danish think tank Grøn Energi (Green Energy) under the Danish District Heating Association, Jesper Koch.

The analysis is made by COWI for the Danish District Heating Association, DI Energy and the Danish Board of District Heating. Read more about it here.