Holbæk residents asked to choose site for disputed biogas plant

Residents of Holbæk Municipality will help identify a possible site for a new biogas plant, seven years after local protests stopped a previous project, DR reports.

About 150 people attended a public meeting on Wednesday evening, where residents of the villages of Regstrup and Sdr. Jernløse voiced concern and confusion over the plans. No areas have been selected yet.

“This evening I felt that I could choose between the plague and cholera. I did not think the decision on a biogas plant had already been set in stone, but apparently it has, and I am deeply disappointed,” said Sanna Møller from Holbæk.

Heidi Andersen from Regstrup said she had experienced strong opposition to a biogas plant at the meeting, but felt that politicians had indicated the decision was already made.

“You feel powerless,” she said.

Charlotte Nielsen, the Social Democrats’ energy spokesperson on the municipal council, rejected that interpretation and said no decision had been made.

“No, it will not happen regardless of what the residents say. No decisions have been made about anything,” she said.

Residents can now submit suggestions and comments on possible locations through the municipality’s “Deltag Holbæk” website. Andersen plans to write that she opposes the project, rather than suggest a location.

Christian Ahlefeldt-Laurvig of the Liberal Party, who brought the biogas debate back onto the political agenda, said Holbæk should contribute to biogas production because it is Denmark’s largest gas town.

“Biogas is taking over an increasing share of the gas in the gas network, so in future we will use a lot of biogas in Holbæk Municipality,” he said.

Politicians hope that involving residents at an early stage will prevent the conflict that developed before 2019, when an earlier attempt was made to site a biogas plant.

“The process, or lack of a process, that formed the basis for the previous project was not particularly appropriate,” Nielsen said.

Søren Pind, chairman of the board of Biogas Denmark, welcomed Holbæk Municipality’s approach. He said the debate was about where, rather than whether, a biogas plant should be built.

Residents also questioned whether biogas was based on outdated thinking, given that it partly relies on pig manure while Denmark aims to reduce its pig population. Pind said this would not prevent biogas production.

Only one-third of pig manure is currently used in biogas plants, he said, adding that a plan for Denmark’s green transition envisages more grassland, which could also be used to produce biogas.

Any final decision on the location of a possible biogas plant in Holbæk Municipality is expected in summer 2027. Denmark has 60 biogas plants connected to the gas network, and biogas accounted for 99.7 per cent of gas consumption in July.