Project launch – Experiences from reducing up-front payment for new DH customers

DBDH has a position that allows us to use experiences and new solutions from Denmark to support the development of district heating (DH) abroad. In this small project, we focus specifically on the amount of money new customers must pay up-front to join DH.

Europe shares the challenge of converting from natural gas to green heating such as DH. Many DH companies in Denmark have developed new ways to transition from an individual gas boiler to DH as easily as possible, including removing or reducing the up-front payment to join DH. The project will collect Danish experiences, make economic analyses, and compare different options. The results will be shared in Denmark to support the DH companies.

Experiences, analyses, and documentation

The project is a collaboration between Assens Fjernvarme, DBDH and researcher Daniel Møller Sneum, and several Danish DH companies have already agreed to share their experiences: Haderslev Fjernvarme, Høje Taastrup Fjernvarme, Viborg Varme, Kredsløb (Aarhus), and VEKS.
Experiences, analyses, and documentation like this can support the development of DH in other countries. DBDH has seen examples where huge up-front payments are suggested to reduce the risk for the developer of DH. We believe that this project will show a different path to secure both lower risk for the developer and more customers wanting to join DH.

Do you want more information?

Please get in touch with Hanne Kortegaard Støchkel (hks@dbdh.dk) for more information and dialogue on this project – or other ongoing DBDH activities to expand the markets for DH: Front-runner cities in The Netherlands, Mentor-project II in the UK, Supporting the clean heating transition in China, or District heating business models in 2050.
The project is funded by the Danish District Heating Associations R&D fund.