Denmark’s 85 Billion Grid Plan Under Fire

Femi Ajakaye

June 27, 2026
4:03 pm

The head of a Danish NGO is challenging Energinet’s 85 billion kroner grid expansion plan, arguing Denmark should invest in flexibility solutions and data-driven energy management instead of more high-voltage transmission towers.

Søren Skov Jakobsen, director of Center Denmark, is questioning whether the country is building its way out of an energy infrastructure problem that could be solved more cheaply and quickly with smarter use of what already exists. His comments land as Energinet reports investing 28 billion kroner in grid expansion over the past six years, with another 57 billion planned through 2029.

That’s 85 billion kroner total. Or roughly 14,000 kroner for every person in Denmark. Two Great Belt Bridges worth of investment, Jakobsen calculates, in an electricity grid that his organization’s data shows is running at just 15 percent capacity in the Triangle Region.

The Utilization Problem

Center Denmark analyzed public data from TREFOR, the regional grid operator, and found the network operates at 15 percent average utilization despite a complete freeze on new grid connections. The low rate stems from how capacity is allocated: every household and business reserves a maximum load, but rarely uses it. Grid operators dimension infrastructure for those peaks, not actual average consumption.

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Jakobsen argues that if regulators required just 30 percent utilization instead of accepting 15 percent, the need for new capacity would drop dramatically. The current queue for grid connections demands seven times existing capacity. At 30 percent utilization, that need would fall to 3.5 times, he says, saving billions and avoiding the political battles over where to plant new transmission towers.

Those battles are real. Long hearing processes with citizens who don’t want high voltage infrastructure in their backyards are one reason Energinet cites for slow buildout. A current project removing 23 kilometers of overhead lines between Hørsholm and Helsingør won’t finish until 2029, with cable excavation running into 2027 and tower removal taking another two years after that.

Regulatory Momentum for Flexibility

The critique arrives as Danish and European regulators are moving in exactly the direction Jakobsen advocates. In June, Forsyningstilsynet announced Denmark is well on its way toward more flexibility in the electricity system, citing a new ACER report recommending that economic frameworks not one-sidedly favor traditional grid expansion.

The EU energy regulator’s position is that better utilization of existing capacity and systematic use of flexibility can limit the need for new lines and towers. Economic frameworks, ACER argues, should be regulatorily neutral between physical buildout and flexibility solutions.

Climate and Energy Minister Samira Nawa opened the door further in a June 25 LinkedIn post, saying Denmark must use existing grid capacity far more effectively. Industry groups are pushing too. DI Teknik & Installation is demanding political action for a functioning flexibility market with concrete deadlines, arguing there’s no pricing model that rewards flexibility and local production as system services.

A report referenced by utility EWII estimates flexibility in electricity consumption could save Danish society and consumers about 1.5 billion kroner annually through lower energy prices, reduced imports, and better grid utilization. CIP Fund points to billion-kroner gains and major CO2 savings if households and businesses shift consumption to high production, low demand periods.

Why Grid Operators Still Want Towers

Energinet’s long-term planning assumes massive offshore wind farms, energy islands, and surging electricity demand for power-to-x, district heating, and industry require substantial transmission capacity. High voltage lines move bulk quantities of power from coast and sea to consumption centers and neighboring countries. Flexibility can reduce local peak loads but cannot alone transport gigawatt-scale flows over long distances.

Without new capacity, Energinet argues, Denmark risks both supply security failures and wasted green power as bottlenecks force wind turbines to curtail production. The European Commission’s clean energy investment strategy anticipates 660 billion euros annually needed across the EU energy system through 2030, according to Dansk Erhverv. Much of that capital will flow to traditional infrastructure unless regulations and incentives shift priorities.

The debate isn’t either-or, though advocates on both sides sometimes present it that way. Green Power Denmark notes that international experience in the Netherlands and Scandinavia shows flexibility can postpone and sometimes minimize grid expansion, but typically as a supplement, not full replacement.

What This Means for Denmark

I’ve watched Danish energy policy oscillate between grand infrastructure visions and incremental technical fixes for years. This feels different. The regulatory tailwind is real, the economic case is solid, and the technology exists. Electric vehicles are becoming grid assets through smart charging. Batteries, heat pumps, and home solar can respond to price signals.

What’s missing is political will to mandate smarter grid use and penalize waste of existing capacity. Jakobsen is right to ask why society should accept 15 percent utilization of infrastructure costing 85 billion kroner. The answer probably involves regulatory inertia, utility business models built on capital expenditure, and the simple fact that building things feels like progress while optimizing invisible electrons does not.

Denmark has a choice: keep building towers through landscapes where citizens don’t want them, or invest in data infrastructure, market design, and flexibility that uses what’s already there. The smartest answer is probably both, but in different proportions than Energinet’s current 85 billion kroner plan suggests.