Lacking government support kills geothermal heating ambitions in Denmark

With the ongoing climate meetings in Paris, France there are some sad news coming from Denmark. Often described as a renewable energy haven with its wind parks, people biking everywhere etc. it is now hard to read about the decision by Board of Directors of Danish Geothermal District Heating, to close down its operations.

Danish District Heating was established in 2011 by the leading district heating companies in Denmark to ensure its members access to knowledge and experience in the establishment and operation of geothermal district heating plants.

Having followed this work throughout the years, it is personally very difficult to see these great effort fail. In a statement by the organisation it reads: “It is with regret that [we] announce that the Board of Directors at its meet- ing on 24 November 2015 has decided to initiate a process aimed at closing Danish Geothermal District Heating. Our decision is rooted in the difficult framework of geothermal energy in Denmark and the lack of political support. This has most recently been exemplified in the national budget for 2016, where the financing of the long awaited national guarantee fund has been re- moved. It is expected that the closing of the company will be in full effect as of 29 February 2016.”

So we assume all the positive words on geothermal on the website of the Environmental Ministry of Denmark are essentially obsolete with the lack of support.

Source: official announcement by Danish Geothermal District Heating by email