A green wave of initiatives is moving out there – from the North Sea across Central Jutland, Funen and Zealand, all the way down to the southernmost point of Gedser and to the most eastern part of Bornholm. They are found across the country – people who in their local communities find themselves putting up wind turbines, making a solar cell system for the city, joining together for an energy community and trying to get rid of their oil and gas boiler to replace it with communal green local heating. Some suggest climate islands and offshore wind farms. This is exactly what the climate needs.

Some citizen-driven projects succeed. Like the wind turbines in Hvide Sande, the solar cell plant in Brenderup on Funen and the district heating project in Føns. 

But currently, others run into a wall of obstacles that slows down the projects. The most current is the Danish Energy Agency's rejection of Bornholm's Havvind, a green citizen-driven project idea that can cover the island's electricity consumption. At the same time, it appears that the existing wind farm Middelgrunden, which has been providing green power outside Copenhagen for years, is also at risk of being closed. Both cases are about the open door scheme, which has now been put on hold, as it may be in breach of EU legislation. But then we have to start looking at the rules, because the projects are exactly what the EU wants and needs many more of. 

The EU is a big proponent of getting more wind and sun across the whole of the union, so that we can get rid of fossil fuels from e.g. Russia and curb climate change. The EU is also pushing to spread local energy communities, where citizens, authorities and companies can come together to share the electricity from jointly owned wind turbines and solar cells. Such saw the light of day for the first time in Denmark with Energifællesskab Avedøre in 2020. But the development of energy communities and in general solar cells on several roofs in public and cooperative housing associations will, among other things, slowed down by the fact that in Denmark you are not allowed to share power between buildings. It must be possible to change.   

Winter is upon us, and therefore we must remember the many villages that are far from the central district heating network, and where the citizens want to get rid of their oil and gas boilers. Here, many people would like to create a local heating supply, a so-called thermonet, so that all citizens can benefit from it and not each of them have to invest in heat pumps every 15 years. Here they are waiting for clarification on whether the thermonet should go under the name collective heating and thus get cheaper state-guaranteed loans. A clarification that is long overdue from the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Supply.

The government is focusing on rolling out renewable energy with large wind turbine and solar cell parks, Power to X and CO2 capture. It also wants to do something about the opposition that we often hear about in the media when there has been a local citizens' meeting about a new plant. The so-called Not in my backyard tendency, which can slow down large projects or completely scuttle them. The government will solve it with more compensations for people who live close by. Perhaps it can soothe some of the frustrations of the big projects. But is this the way to ensure local anchoring for the green transition? Here it is obvious to focus sharply on the citizen-driven part of the transition and thus the people who say Yes in my backyard. This is where the projects become completely rooted in the local community. They have come up with the idea themselves and want to bring it to life. But they must have support, both politically and financially. The experiences must be shared so that others can also get started. And then all the obstacles have to go away, so that the transition that we all have to be a part of can speed up. 

Written by editor Helene Chéret and senior advisor Julie Bangsgaard Abrahams. The debate article has been published in Politiken on 6 December 2023