Copenhagen green energy expansion forces homeowners to relocate

A planned high-voltage power line project to carry renewable energy from southern Denmark to the Copenhagen area will displace residents along its route, including a couple forced to abandon their home of over 30 years, Danish broadcaster DR reports.

Jens Erik and Karin Hansen attended a public meeting in Fladså Hallen, southern Zealand, after learning their property in Tappernøje lies directly in the path of the new transmission line. The project, led by state-owned energy operator Energinet, will transport green electricity—primarily from Lolland, Falster, and southern Zealand—to the capital region.

“We have to leave our home, where we’ve lived for more than 30 years and expected to stay another 15,” Karin Hansen said. While she acknowledged the route spares a protected nature area near Præstø Fjord, she questioned why planners chose a path affecting so many private properties. “So many homes are impacted, and ours will be demolished,” she said.

Energinet’s Christoffer Lilleholt, head of the project division, acknowledged the disruption but called it unavoidable. “Visible infrastructure—whether railways, highways, or power lines—always has an impact,” he said. “Large technical installations like these are particularly intrusive.”

The revised route follows the E47/E55 motorway toward Køge more closely than earlier proposals, which had considered cutting through the Præstø Fjord nature reserve.