Danish green transition faces hurdles as gas heater phase-out proves more challenging than expected

The Danish government’s ambitious plan to phase out natural gas has recently run into problems. Due to dropping gas prices, high interest rates, increased material costs, and a labor shortage, a successful green transition in Danish homes requires more than just a political ambition to eliminate all gas heaters by 2035, according to Marie Münster, a member of the Climate Council and a professor at the Technical University of Denmark.

According to a recent report from the Local Government Denmark (KL), there is still a long way to go before Denmark can become independent of gas. About 122,000 Danes are still awaiting an answer on whether they can replace their oil or gas heaters with district heating, even though they were promised clarity last year. This uncertainty makes it difficult for them to decide whether to invest in a heat pump if district heating is not possible or too expensive.

There are still 363,270 gas heaters in Denmark according to the latest statistics. To avoid further delays in the green transition, more regulation is needed, suggests Münster. This could entail setting a final date for the use of gas in homes or prohibiting the installation of new gas heaters.

Efforts are currently underway across the country to prepare projects for citizens to decide whether they want to convert their oil or gas heaters to district heating. However, the process is taking longer than expected when the ambition to phase out natural gas was decided in 2022. The reasons for this are multi-fold, says Birgit S. Hansen, Chair of the Climate and Environment Committee at KL.

In her opinion, it was unrealistic to expect all owners of a gas or oil heater to be informed about the possibility of district heating by the end of 2023, as politicians had previously promised.

Peter Didriksen, a heating planner in Randers Municipality, agrees that a significant push is needed to phase out gas as a heating source in Danish homes. He believes that the state underestimated how long it would take to identify key people, form an association, develop a project proposal, get it politically approved, and then secure a tender.

The Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities, Lars Aagaard, holds municipalities responsible for the lack of clarity regarding district heating. In a written comment, he rejects criticism of the lack of political decisions concerning the phasing out of gas. He states that the government has allocated over 5.5 billion kroner to funds that can lead to the phasing out of gas.

In Germany, the installation of new gas or oil heaters has been prohibited from this year. By 2044, heating homes with gas or oil should be permanently discontinued.