Danes Used Less, Produced More Gas in 2017
State-run Danish Energy Agency’s preliminary energy statistics for Denmark in 2017 show that the country produced more natural gas last year, but consumed less.
CO2 emissions fell significantly, as renewable energy consumption rose by 11% while coal fell sharply and gas use also declined.
Denmark continued to be a net petroleum exporter with a degree of self-sufficiency of 114% in 2017, according to the agency's statistics, released in English on April 6 and the previous week in Danish. The unchanged level, relative to 2016, is due to increased natural gas production, which offset a reduction in crude oil production.
Total primary energy production in Denmark rose by 2.7% to 655 petajoules (PJ) in 2017. Natural gas production increased by 7.1% to 182 PJ in 2017, roughly equivalent to 4.86bn m3 (up from 170 PJ in 2016), whereas crude oil production fell by 2.7% to 290 PJ. Renewable energy increased by 8.4% to 168 PJ, a large increase primarily due to wind and biogas generation.
Danish gas production will decline sharply in 2019-22, as the Tyra field which processes 90% of the country's gas output, will be shut for redevelopment from November 2019 until July 2022.
The agency also said that observed Danish energy consumption increased marginally by 0.1% in 2017 to 744 PJ, while adjusted gross energy consumption rose by 0.2%.
In the adjusted gross energy consumption – so adjusted for fuel consumption linked to foreign trade in electricity and fluctuations in climate – consumption of coal fell by 21%, and that of natural gas fell by 5.1% to 125 PJ, or roughly 3.34bn m3, in 2017 (from 131 PJ in 2016). Renewable energy and oil demand rose by 10.9% and 2.9% respectively last year. This change is mainly because a decrease in wind levels in 2016 meant lower production of wind energy, which led to more coal used in power plants. In contrast, 2017 was close to a normal wind year.
Full preliminary 2017 energy data for Denmark can be downloaded from here.
Observed emissions of CO2 from energy use fell by 5.4% relative to 2016. Adjusted for fuel consumption linked to foreign trade in electricity and climate fluctuations, CO2 emissions fell by 5.3% in 2017. Total observed Danish greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are estimated to have decreased by 3.9% in 2017, and emissions adjusted for climate and fuel consumption linked to foreign trade in electricity are estimated to have fallen by 4%. A final statement of Danish GHG emissions will be published later by the Danish Centre for Environment and Energy.
Energy intensity measured in relation to adjusted gross energy consumption fell by 1.8% in 2017 compared with 2016, which means that GDP rose more than energy use.