Case Story Denmark

GREENING THE GAS GRID IN DENMARK

February 2019

POTENTIAL DISPLACEMENT OF NATURAL GAS WITH GREEN GAS

Denmark is the country in Europe with the highest share of green (decarbonized ) gas in the gas grid and could be the first European country to become independent of fossil natural gas by satisfying all of gas consumption through green gas produced from food waste, industrial organic waste and agricultural by-products. As of 2019, more than 10% of the gas in the Danish gas grid is green throughout the year. In the summertime the decarbonized share is 25 %. It is estimated that 100% of the expected gas consumption could be green by 2035 (this equates to 72PJ) according to assessments from Aarhus University and Green Gas Denmark (Figure 1). The assessment is based on an increased use of manure and digestible wastes as well as 50% of the straw resources as anaerobic digestion (AD) feedstock, along with an increased production efficiency. Aarhus University points out that utilisation of the gas grid for electricity storage (whereby electricity is converted to hydrogen and the hydrogen is reacted with CO2 to produce methane) could boost the energy potential to 100 PJ. This development could also create up to 20,000 new jobs in Denmark by 2035.

Green gas is a common term for several renewable gases, which are produced from renewable sources through specific processes. One of these green gases is upgraded biogas, also known as biomethane. The production of green gas for the gas grid began in Denmark with the Energy Agreement from 2012, supported by a large political majority. Since then, an industrialization process of the sector has taken place, and many large-scale biogas plants, equipped with biogas upgrading units, were built. About half of the produced biogas was upgraded in 2018. Currently, 32 green gas plants are connected to the gas grid (Figure 2). The share of biogas upgraded and supplied to the natural gas network is increasing sharply and the interest in biogas for transport is growing.