In Denmark, new administrative and fiscal rules will allow companies to use their excess heat or sell it to the district heating network. In the future, excess heat from industrial companies could, for example, heat many Danish homes.

After approving a historic climate deal, the Danish parliament took an unanimous decision to remove excessive heating taxes and burdensome reporting requirements. The change in the law came into force on January 1, 2021 and will have a significant impact on Denmark’s ambitious green project, which aims to achieve a 70% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030.

Excess heat has great potential, with experts predicting that it could heat almost 10% of Danish homes, corresponding to around 200,000 households. As part of the European research project EMB3R, scientists at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) are collecting data on waste heat sources in Copenhagen, in the district of Nordhavn.

This data will be used for the development of new business models. EMB3Rs hopes that this study will provide them with the opportunity to demonstrate the viability of alternative systems, such as local heating networks based on smart heat pumps, to other energy communities across Denmark.

These regulations are also set to transform coolers in supermarkets and other hidden heat providers into profitable, new and sustainable sources of energy.