Consumption of renewable energy increased by 15% in the first half of 2017 in Denmark compared with the same period in 2016, according to information released by the Danish Energy Agency. At the same time, consumption of coal and natural gas fell by 19.6% and 0.1% respectively.

Net import of electricity fell considerably in the first half of 2017, compared with the same period in 2016. When the figures are adjusted for fuel consumption linked to foreign trade in electricity and climate fluctuations, energy consumption actually fell by 1.3% in the first three months of 2017 compared to the same three months in the beginning of 2016.

Consumption of renewable energy increased by 15%
The increase in the consumption of renewable energy can largely be attributed to an increase in the consumption of biomass at central plants and increased wind power production compared to the first half of 2016.

Biomass is predominantly used in central plants to produce household heating, and thus the increase in consumption can largely be attributed to the use of district heating. Consumption of biomass in the first half of 2017 increased in comparison to the first half of 2016, and also in relation to average consumption over the last five years. The conversion of two heating and power plants in Denmark to be completely fired by biomass can largely explain the overall increase over the last five years.

Although wind production fell slightly in January 2017, compared to January 2016, when looking overall at the first six months of 2017 compared to the first half of 2016, wind production actually increased by 23.3%. Furthermore, wind comprised 44.2% of the overall electricity production in the first half of 2017, compared to 35.5% in 2016.

Production of natural gas and renewable energy increased by 6% and 9% respectively, while the production of crude oil fell by 2.3% in the first half of 2017 when compared to the same period in 2016.

Source: stateofgreen.com
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