The industry association Danish District Heating Association sets up a commission to present recommendations to the upcoming parliament to stop new rules and bureaucracy.
The chairman of the Danish District Heating Association, Jesper Frost Rasmussen has just announced this in his speech at the opening of the National Meeting 2022 of Dansk Fjernvarme, where more than 2,000 participants have gathered in Copenhagen.
– If we are to speed up toward a green Denmark, we must remove the obstacles on the way, and stop creating more barriers that make it difficult for us to reach our shared goals, says Jesper Frost Rasmussen, chairman of the Danish District Heating Association.
New Commission must clean up.
A fast-working commission is therefore being set up to review applicable laws and regulations in the area to eliminate bureaucratic rules that prevent the district heating industry from reaching its goals. The commission will involve relevant authorities, municipalities, and other actors in work and present its recommendations to the future government and the future parliament.
– Over the past few years, a large number of new rules, administration, and bureaucracy have come in, which make it more difficult and create further uncertainty for the companies that have to deliver more speed and pace in the green transition. Take, for example, the publication of the annotated heat supply act, which 20 years ago filled 300 pages, and now takes up three times as much, Dansk Fjernvarme writes in a press release.
– In Denmark, every time we try to remove a rule or a bureaucratic law, we tend to do it with tweezers and surgical precision. In contrast, a shovel is used when new rules are to be introduced, says Jesper Frost Rasmussen and emphasizes:
– There must be a rule and bureaucracy stop, removing any uncertainty and extra administration for the companies. Then, a commission must investigate our existing jungle of rules so that things can be cleaned up.
The goal is a faster path to a green transition.
Concretely, the chairman already proposed on the platform that several rules must cease because they belong to the past.
– For my sake, we can remove the cumbersome process of project approval for district heating projects in the areas designated as district heating areas in the municipalities’ heating plans. You can also stop working with bureaucratic price caps on the use of surplus heat, and instead let the companies and businesses have greater freedom to agree on the price, says Jesper Frost Rasmussen and continues:
– At the same time, we should remove the restrictions on the municipal companies in investing and participating in CO2 capture and PtX projects. The same applies to rules that limit the companies’ opportunities to act outside the existing and piped district heating area, e.g., village communities and neighboring municipalities.