Home News Hofor and Innargi in collaboration on sustainable energy supply in Nordhavn, Copenhagen

Hofor and Innargi in collaboration on sustainable energy supply in Nordhavn, Copenhagen

by Linda Bertelsen
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From the outset, the vision for the urban development of Nordhavn in Copenhagen has been to create the sustainable district of the future. An important element in creating sustainable cities is that they are supplied with green energy.

The vision for Nordhavn is moving one step closer with a new collaboration between Hofor, Innargi, and By & Havn, which has a new and ambitious plan underway for the following stages of urban development in Nordhavn.

Plans are being made for a sustainable electricity and heat supply produced locally in Nordhavn, where various solutions such as geothermal energy, seawater heat pumps, district cooling, and low-temperature district heating are expected to be combined.

Great potential

The energy planning of Nordhavn is part of the work with the so-called structure plan for Nordhavn, which provides a broad overview of how the areas in Nordhavn can be used in the future, including how the district can contribute to the capital’s energy supply and where it is suitable to place the supply facilities.

The energy solutions must not only supply Nordhavn but form part of the overall supply system for the capital – and on a larger scale, it is precisely the new, green solutions that must reduce the climate footprint from energy production.

The potential is great, says Ingvar Sejr Hansen, development director at By & Havn:

– Many Danes are considering these years how they can contribute to the green transition. Someone switches to heat pumps in their house or puts solar cells on their roof. But the effect is far more significant when you create new collective green solutions. A sustainable new district in Nordhavn, where the energy supply is based on seawater heat pumps, geothermal energy, and low-temperature district heating, has yet to, as far as I know, be seen anywhere in the world before. It will make a huge contribution not just to the energy supply in Copenhagen but to the entire green transition in Denmark, says Ingvar Sejr Hansen.

Geothermal & Seawater

In particular, there are high expectations for the use of geothermal energy, as Nordhavn is an area where the underground is suitable for drilling 30-80 degree hot geothermal water up to the surface and transferring the heat to the district heating network.

Nordhavn is also ideal for placing a seawater heat pump, as there is a short distance from the tip of Nordhavn to the deep parts of Øresund, where the heat must be collected.

– Geothermal heat is an obvious solution in an area like Nordhavn. It is green, emission-free heat, which does not make noise and only requires a small amount of space compared to many other energy technologies. At the same time, it is one of the few renewable energy sources that runs stably, regardless of whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing, says Mathas Schou Gammelgaard, director of Strategic Heating Development in Innargi.

The exact location of the technical facilities is being clarified, but the hope is that the geothermal facility can be ready to supply district heating to the grid in 2030.

Hofor and the heat

Hofor will take the heat and lead it into the district heating system and out to the heat consumers.

– We use several local renewable energy sources that can be utilized via large heat pumps. Especially seawater and geothermal heat energy from the earth’s interior are fantastic as they can supply all year round. We look forward to being part of the development of a sustainable district in Nordhavn that prioritizes areas for local heat production, which makes the heat consumers central players in the work of getting a local, sustainable energy supply to function optimally in interaction with the overall Copenhagen district heating network, says director of supply strategy and wind at Hofor, Charlotte Søndergren.

Translated from Energy-supply.dk