AABENRAA: The Municipality of Aabenraa is buzzing with life and green transformation. In Kassø, just 14 km outside Aabenraa, Northern Europe's largest solar park is being built, and the green electricity will be used to produce 10,000 tons of green methanol via PtX for Maersk's future methanol-powered ships. Linde Gas has rented space on the harbor site where the coal-fired power plant Enstedværket was previously located, because there are perfect conditions for PtX.
Normally, a mayor is very often a board member of the municipal harbor. It is a big bone that is often in demand when newly elected city councils are in constitutional negotiations. That was not the case for Aabenraa's newly elected mayor Jan Riber Jakobsen.
- It is normal for the mayor to sit on the port's board, but I have chosen to be at arm's length from the port by not sitting on the board, says Jan Riber Jakobsen.
It is a choice for the city of Aabenraa and the port's development. He sees his role as mayor as the one who must have the long-term perspective for the whole of Aabenraa.
- We are about to have to create an ownership strategy for the port. This means, among other things, that we plan that from 2035 there will be housing on the eastern part of the port. We have of course already let the companies there know that, says the mayor.
He also thinks a lot about how climate change can affect both the city and the port with flooding.
- We are very vulnerable because of the climate, and we think about that when we talk about the port, he says.
Here the aforementioned arm's length comes into the picture again, as the conversation turns to the port's CEO Henrik Thykjær.
- It is not certain that we have the same idea of where the port should be developed. That is why I have chosen not to sit on the board, explains Jan Riber Jakobsen, although one can sense great satisfaction from the port's management.
- We have an extremely good dialogue between the port, the city and the municipality. We owe it to ourselves to develop the port area optimally, because we are the gateway to Denmark, and through the port we receive bulk such as slag from Norway, which is delivered all the way to Kolding, he says.
In the longer term, Jan Riber Jakobsen also sees the need for an expansion of the port east of the area where the Ensted power plant was previously located. This will mean expansion in Aabenraa Fjord.
PtX, trucks and district heating
The location of the solar cell park under construction in Kassø was chosen for a very specific reason, in the immediate vicinity of the north-south power cable that connects Denmark with Germany and the nearby fiber network.
- It is located here, because then the future PtX plant can get power from the cable at night, when there is no sun for the solar cells. The power is then delivered back during the daytime. The proximity to the fiber network in Hjordkær is also important for the location, explains Jan Riber Jakobsen.
He also already knows that the methanol, which will be produced at the PtX plant, will have to be transported further out into the world by trucks.
In fact, Aabenraa Municipality's central location also means that there are plans for methanol production in Padborg. Here is the highway, and the possibility that trucks can refuel with methanol instead of diesel in the future.
With three PtX plants on the way in the municipality in the future, there is also a possible energy loss, but sector coupling has long been part of the future.
- Wherever it makes sense, we are turning to heat, says Jan Riber Jakobsen, who is already thinking about sector coupling and the use of residual heat from PtX.
The mayor already has industry knowledge, because he is chairman of the board of directors for district heating in his hometown of Padborg.
Addition 17.03.22.
- I'm lying flat. We have tenants in the eastern part of the harbor who have leases that run longer than 2035. Regardless of what we find out in the upcoming ownership strategy, we will respect the companies' leases. That's for sure. The mistake is mine with the year, the honest mayor Jan Riber Jakobsen insists on a telephone connection from Aalborg.
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