Danish district heating and waste expertise to Belgium
Date: 29/03/2017The Belgian state visit to Denmark by H.M. King Philippe of the Belgians and Queen Mathilde, accompanied by seven ministers and business representatives from 37 Belgian companies, is taking place 28-30 March.
The purpose of the state visit is to underline the strong ties between Denmark and Belgium, and the programme includes areas such as sustainable development, renewable energy, healthcare, transport logistics and smart city solutions.
Antwerp in Belgium is looking at opportunities to use waste heat from their new waste incineration for district heating. ISVAG, which is in charge of construction of the plant in Antwerp, yesterday signed an agreement with ARC and DBDH in connection with the royal visit. The agreement will ensure a long-term cooperation between the three organizations.
ISVAG, together with the City of Antwerp, has repeatedly in recent years visited Copenhagen to get a deeper insight into the structure regarding Danish district heating and waste management. The visits now culminate in a formalized agreement. The director of DBDH, Lars Hummelmose has looked forward to a long-term cooperation with both ARV and ISVAG. He said: “DBDH has met with ISVAG several times and discussed how district heating can be deployed on the best way to Antwerp. Now we have a formal agreement that will provide DBDH members with better access to and knowledge of the plans in Antwerp, Belgium. We expect soon to be able to invite companies to Belgium in cooperation with ISVAG and look forward to receiving delegations from Belgium here in Denmark”.
DBDH experiences a strong growing interest in district heating from anywhere in Europe. European energy directives as well as a massive national and local interest to make the energy supply more green and to optimize the total energy consumption means that many countries have really caught sight of district heating options. Also the massive dependence on imported natural gas, which many countries are experiencing, is an important argument for implementing sustainable local solutions – where district heating again play a crucial role.
“Countries that previously have not had the big scam for district heating now knock on our door and want to know more about how we’ve done in Denmark. At DBDH we are ready to support the ideas and see it as a great opportunity for the Danish exporting companies. Long-term collaborations with ISVAG and mentoring with several cities in England and Scotland is important for district heating to be successful in Europe,” says Lars Hummelmose.