Solar District Heating in Denmark 1988-2018

In Denmark more than 1.3 million m2 of solar collectors are connected to district heating  

  • The number of district heating plants with solar collectors (SDH) has increased by 42 % in one year (new record*)
  • In 2016 the total area had grown by 62 % to over 1.3 million m2 compared to about 800,000 m2 in 2015 (new record*)
  • The number of Danish SDH plants are now over 100

Danish district heating is the most innovative district heating sector in the world, because we have an open exchange of experience among the plants.

This is possible, because in Denmark – in contrast to most other countries – district heating is supplied by non-profit companies, and therefore there is no business to keep good ideas to oneself. Savings realised by intelligent long term investments must always be passed on to the consumers.

PlanEnergi has been at the forefront of the development and planning of the district heating sector since the beginning, including utilization of large solar heating systems with Brædstrup and Dronninglund as the largest.

The map is showing the development from 1988 to 2016. At the end, already planned and new systems/extensions are shown. Place your cursor over the map to pause the movie.

Please find more info on some of the solar heating systems here – also see the current solar heat production from a range of systems at solarheatdata.eu.

*  This increase is the biggest ever in absolute numbers and the biggest percentage in the last two decades.

Disclaimer: PlanEnergi cannot be held responsible for any use of this content.

10 years of rapid development

During the last ten years the annual growth in the total solar collector area has been an average of 42 %. The corresponding increase of heating plants has been 29 %. A number of heating plants choose to extend their solar heating capacity after some years. So far 19 heating plants have established extensions – some of them using more times round. The approximate expositional growth since 2006 may be seen in the figure below. As development currently takes place with regard to planning of new plants, the blue columns will change during 2018.

Development of Solar District Heating in Denmark 2006-18