FORNY Roundtable event: Danish energy lessons for Southern Norway

This week, Morten Jordt Duedahl, Business Development Manager at DBDH, took part in the FORNY Roundtable at the University of Agder in Kristiansand. The event explored what Southern Norway can learn from Denmark’s experience in developing offshore wind and district heating to create a more flexible and resilient energy system.

The roundtable marked the conclusion of the three-year research project FORNY – Renewable Power as a Competitive Advantage, a collaboration between NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, University of Agder, Å Energi, Morrow Batteries, the Eyde industrial cluster, and regional authorities. The project examined how the Agder region can combine industrial growth with a green energy transition.

In his presentation “District Heating in Denmark – Ensuring Uptake and Securing Infrastructure Developments at Scale,” Morten highlighted how Denmark has built one of the world’s most integrated heating systems through consistent policy, municipal planning, and cross-sector partnerships.

“Norway uses a lot of electricity for heating because of its hydropower resources,” Morten explained. “But rising electricity demand from hydrogen production and data centres is putting pressure on the system. District heating can relieve that pressure by using surplus heat and other lower-grade energy sources – electricity is too fine a product to heat buildings and water.”

The session, chaired by Associate Professor Stina Torjesen (UiA), also featured contributions from Svein Are Folgerø (Å Energi) and Anders Eldrup, Chair of Innovationsfonden and Board Member of the CIP Foundation, who spoke about offshore wind’s role in regional transformation.

Discussions underlined both the opportunities and challenges ahead for Norway. While many Norwegian homes lack water-based heating systems, the country’s industrial base and surplus heat potential make district heating an increasingly relevant tool for energy efficiency and decarbonisation.

The FORNY Roundtable demonstrated how Danish experience in system integration, local ownership, and flexible heat production can offer valuable inspiration for Norway’s path toward a smarter, more sustainable energy future.