Denmark to merge gas, power system operators

Danish state-owned Energinet is merging its twin subsidiaries to form a single gas and power system operator, the company said April 29. It said this would "ensure that Energinet can underpin Denmark's very ambitious climate targets in the best possible way." Electrification is seen as the quickest route to net zero carbon, if the electricity is generated from renewable sources, and it is the current head of the electricity system operator, Soren Dupont Kristensen, who will run the new entity.

Gas transmission system operator CEO Torben Brabo will chair the supervisory board of Energinet's associated activities, which works overseas with governments on green energy conversion. Later he will join the management team in Energinet’s system operator.

Energinet CEO Thomas Egebo said: "We need to think across sectors. We will only achieve a fast and efficient transition if we merge the various sectors and systems to a far greater extent, and, naturally, we at Energinet must do everything we can to underpin this."

Having a single system operator will speed up the development and innovation of a system that will rely on fluctuating sources of energy, such as wind and solar resources. It also makes "life easier for the many partners and sectors, that we need to co-operate with, to find the right contact, because we will have one joint entry point," Egebo said.

Electric heat pumps and other green energy must "phase out oil and natural gas in the heating of both private houses and in district heating companies." Biogas must not only replace natural gas where possible. but gas itself must be linked to other sectors to an even greater extent. Green electricity will be used to produce hydrogen for transporting through existing gas pipes. Hydrogen can also be mixed with CO₂ from biogas or other molecules and converted into the green fuels of the future for transport, Energinet said.

Electricity transmission, gas storage and other subsidiaries will stay in their current set-ups. The organisational change will take effect when the necessary authorisations have been obtained.