The European Commission finds the expansion of the Danish natural gas system so important that it has decided to back the expansion of the gas transmission network in Southern Jutland with EUR 99m (about DKK 740m) from the EU Recovery Plan. The funding covers about half of the DKK 1.5bn investment.

The money will be divided between the planned looping of the natural gas network between Ellund near the border and Egtved and the construction of a compressor station at Energinet.dk’s facilities in Egtved. The purpose of the compressor station is to increase the pressure in the gas pipelines to allow gas to be transported through the Danish gas system and further on to Sweden, which is supplied with natural gas from Denmark.

- We are very pleased that the European Commission has decided to back the project. The expansion of the gas transmission network to Germany is crucial to security of supply, says Peter Hodal, Energinet.dk.

It is the prospect of declining natural gas supply from the Danish part of the North Sea that is the immediate cause of the expansion of the gas transmission network on the 94-km section. Today, more than 300,000 Danish consumers, enterprises and power plants use natural gas, and Denmark will have to import gas within a few years.

Although it is the government’s goal that Denmark be independent of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas in the long term, it will take many years before Denmark can do without natural gas, which is the fossil fuel that emits less CO2 of the three fuel types.

- Energinet.dk is dedicated to integrating ever greater amounts of renewable energy into the Danish energy system. The natural gas network will also play an important role in this respect for many more years. We are working on using 'green' gas, ie biogas, in the natural gas system. So very soon biogas can be transported in the natural gas network, says Peter Hodal.