Virtually all of Denmark now has a plan to phase out natural gas for home heating, according to a new report from KL and the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities. According to the report, over 146,000 homes have been allocated to green district heating through approved projects and municipal heating plans. This is according to the Danish District Heating industry association.
The report is the result of the task that municipalities and utility companies were given in the 2022 climate agreement. Here, it was decided that Denmark should prepare local heating plans as a basis for a national phasing out of fossil gas in the housing sector. According to the report, there are now heating plans for almost all homes that are currently heated with natural gas.
- Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent energy price crisis, district heating companies have drawn up heating plans together with municipalities and converted more than 64,000 private households to green district heating. However, there is still huge potential, as KL's status report also makes clear, says Rune Moesgaard, political director of Danish District Heating.
The report also points out that 74 percent of Evida's terminated gas customers in 2024 stated a switch to district heating as the reason for the termination, which confirms the central role of district heating in the green transition.
However, if the remaining part of the private gas customers are to be converted, it requires political action, believes Dansk Fjernvarme. At the end of June 2025, there were still almost 270,000 private gas customers. 54 percent of them live in approved district heating areas and 21 percent in areas with a heating plan for district heating.
- If the 75 percent of gas customers who are located in an area with prospects for district heating or potential for district heating are to convert their gas boilers to green district heating, then there is a need to increase awareness of the natural gas phasing out in Denmark. KL itself recommends in the report that the depreciation period and the loan period for district heating infrastructure should follow each other, which will make the depreciation of, among other things, pipes more accurately and can contribute to more accurate budgeting for district heating projects, says Rune Moesgaard.
At the same time, Danish District Heating recommends that a political strategy be drawn up for handling the gas supply. Among other things, the prioritization of biogas must be clarified here, and it should be agreed that the gas supply will be stopped in both approved and planned district heating areas.
- If the natural gas phase-out stagnates, we risk that there will be so many private gas boilers left in Denmark in 10 years that we will still be dependent on natural gas because the green biogas cannot cover the supply for both businesses and private households. It is necessary to make a priority for biogas that first and foremost ensures that industry and district heating can be supplied, says Rune Moesgaard.
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