Geothermal energy is going to make district heating in Skanderborg and Hørning even greener

District heating in Skanderborg and Hørning is actually already green, but the ambition is for it to be even more sustainable. That is why the plan is for geothermal energy to replace a large part of the biomass consumption in the future. The goal is also to secure stable, low prices on the heat in our radiators.

This vision is supported by the mayor of Skanderborg, Frands Fischer:

The municipality of Skanderborg is a member of the climate partnership DK2020 who works on translating the goals of the Paris Agreement into concrete actions. This means among other things, that the municipality (as a geographical location) has committed to becoming CO₂-neutral before 2050.

Skanderborg and Hørning need to be connected

The district heating company’s board of directors has initiated the project with a master plan to be ready sometime during 2023. The goal is to distribute the safe, cheap, and climate friendly heat to the benefit of more people, to decrease the heating prices in the long term, and to make the entire district heating network more energy efficient. For this, geothermal energy plays a key role. There is, however, an important prerequisite that needs to be in place:

The greater Copenhagen area and Aarhus enables much more geothermal energy in Denmark

Innargi, the company responsible for the development and operation of the geothermal plant if the parties involved reaches an agreement, is currently in the process of building EU’s largest geothermal heating plant for the district heating company Kredsløb in Aarhus. And it is precisely the company’s big projects in Aarhus and the greater Copenhagen area which can make geothermal heating an attractive option for medium-sized district heating companies like Skanderborg-Hørning Fjernvarme, says CEO Samir Abboud:

The parties involved expect for it to take about half a year for the contract to be in place. If they succeed, the expectation is for the plant to be placed on Danmarksvej in Skanderborg.

About the parties involved:

Skanderborg-Hørning Fjernvarme A.m.b.a.
Skanderborg-Hørning Fjernvarme A.m.b.a. is a locally rooted district heating company founded in 1958. The almost 11,000 members of the co-operative society are supplied with district heating at low prices and with a high level of security of supply. The heat is produced using primarily local biomass focusing on sustainability.

Innargi A/S
Innargi was founded in 2017 by A.P. Moller holding A/S and is today owned by A.P. Moller Holding, ATP and NRGI. Innargi’s mission is to bring geothermal heating to millions of homes with expert knowledge from an experienced team of geologists, reservoir-, facility-, and drilling engineers as well as through partnerships with district heating companies.