New project to explore Direct Air Capture and green fuel production in the Varde area

Over a two-year period, small and medium-sized Danish enterprises will receive training on Indian market conditions, access to local networks, and one-on-one meetings with relevant Indian stakeholders.

The programme is supported by the Danish Energy Agency and the EMD Foundation through the Green Energy Academy initiative.

At the same time, the Danish energy companies will serve as instructors, equipping Indian engineers with a deeper understanding of Europe’s green transition efforts and the competencies required to support increased electrification and a more climate-friendly industry.

The initiative is based on a collaboration between Energy Cluster Denmark and its Danish partners Aprendio and Energy & Climate Academy, as well as the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-Madras) and Innovation Centre Denmark in Bangalore.

A handbook for innovation
One of the Danish companies selected for the programme is CARA Cooling, which is developing an innovative cooling solution that uses water as a refrigerant and is powered by waste heat.

For CARA Cooling, participation has already broadened the company’s perspective on the opportunities available in the Indian market. Poul Fogh, Director of Special Projects of CARA Cooling, highlights that the programme provides concrete insights into both market data and business culture in India.

“We are essentially being given a handbook for entering an unfamiliar market and engaging in potential innovation projects. At the same time, we gain access to concrete figures that demonstrate the opportunities in India, making this far more than just theory. We can already see that the potential in India is greater than we initially thought,” says Poul Fogh.

The company expects to participate in a series of one-on-one meetings with potential partners ahead of a planned innovation mission to India in February 2027.

“We need to be smarter”
At Nordic Green Solutions, another participant in the Green Energy Academy programme, the motivation is to identify new opportunities for growth and innovation. India represents an attractive market, says Casper Thielsen, Senior Manager at Nordic Green Solutions. The consultancy specialises in energy optimisation and helping companies calculate and reduce their carbon footprint.

“We are more expensive than many local alternatives in India, so we need to be smarter. That is why it is crucial to understand the market and India’s demand for innovation and solutions that can support its development. We want to build relationships and identify the right partners for innovative initiatives, and this project creates exactly that opportunity for both us and our Indian partners,” says Casper Thielsen.

Facts
Green Energy Academy is funded by the Danish Energy Agency and the EMD Foundation.

The innovation project is carried out by Energy Cluster Denmark in collaboration with Aprendio, Energy & Climate Academy, IIT-Madras and Innovation Centre Denmark in Bangalore.

Questions?
For more information about the Danish-Indian collaboration, please contact:

Jakob Falk, Project Manager, Energy Cluster Denmark, jfa@energycluster.dk, +45 28 48 79 65

Interest in developing and demonstrating new energy technology solutions remains strong.

This is evident from the recently concluded application round under Denmark's Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program (EUDP), where 79 projects across the country have applied for a total of DKK 772 million to support new project initiatives.

Among the applicants is Denmark's national energy cluster, Energy Cluster Denmark, which, together with a number of strong consortia, is involved in 13 project applications representing a combined project budget of DKK 327 million.

This is according to Glenda Napier, CEO of Energy Cluster Denmark.

“The fact that we have contributed to project applications representing slightly more than every fourth EUDP krone applied for in this funding round highlights the strong innovative capacity among our members. We see startups, SMEs, large companies, researchers, and other members joining forces around innovation. This is a clear sign that the energy sector continues to invest heavily in developing the new solutions and technologies needed to drive the green transition,” says Glenda Napier.

Innovation Projects with Potential
The 13 innovation projects span the entire energy sector value chain and address some of the key challenges facing industry and society.

Common to all 13 applications is the ambition to develop, test, and demonstrate new solutions that can strengthen both climate resilience efforts and Danish competitiveness in the long term.

“In this funding round, we see particularly strong interest among our members in seeking support for innovation within energy security and more decentralized energy solutions, as well as digitalization that can enable greater flexibility and faster, more efficient balancing of the power grid. We are proud to have helped bring together strong partnerships and qualify projects that can move new energy technologies closer to market,” says Glenda Napier.

Facts
The applications will now undergo EUDP’s professional evaluation process, and final funding decisions are expected to be made in December 2026.

• Number of project applications facilitated by Energy Cluster Denmark: 13
• Total project budget: DKK 327,878,716.64
• Total EUDP funding applied for: DKK 199,678,325.80
• Total funding applied for in this EUDP round: DKK 772 million
• Energy Cluster Denmark's share of total requested funding: 26%
• Total number of applications in the EUDP funding round: 79

Less heat is being lost on its way to consumers in Brønderslev.

This is one of the main results of the RACE innovation project, in which new technology has been tested in an existing district heating network under full operating conditions.

As part of the project, 13 intelligent bypasses have been installed across the network, collecting real-time data on parameters including pressure and temperature.

The data is combined with a digital twin and an AI controller that analyses network operation and sends recommendations for pressure and temperature back to the utility’s control system. This means that the technology has been tested in practice in a real district heating network while continuing to supply heat to customers every day.

The innovation project has been carried out by Brønderslev Forsyning, Aalborg University, Glaze, Develco, Broen/Agerkrantz Controls and Energy Cluster Denmark with support from the Danish Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Programme (EUDP).

The results show, among other things, that a greater share of the heat produced reaches consumers. During the winter period, energy utilisation increased from 85.8 to 88.5 per cent – an improvement of 2.7 percentage points.

“In many district heating networks, heat losses are typically between 10 and 20 per cent. This means that even a few percentage points can make a significant difference. In RACE, the improvement comes from better monitoring of temperature and pressure throughout the district heating network, giving the utility a much more precise picture of where the network can be operated with less energy loss,” says Henrik Sørensen, Section Manager at AAU Energy.

Results from the RACE project

• Energy utilisation at the plant improved by 2.7 percentage points in winter and 3.3 percentage points in summer.
• Energy consumption among customers decreased by 7.3% in winter and 26.3% in summer when adjusted for weather conditions.
• Differential pressure was reduced without compromising the heat supply to consumers.

Benefits for both operations and consumers

The results also show that consumers’ energy consumption fell by approximately 7.3 per cent during the winter period when adjusted for differences in weather conditions between 2024 and 2026. This is partly linked to improved operating conditions in the network, where more precise control of pressure, flow and temperature can reduce passive heat losses in individual household installations.

According to Brønderslev Forsyning, the benefits are primarily due to RACE making it possible to operate the network more actively. With new measurements and AI-based control, differential pressure can now be adjusted continuously throughout the day, whereas previously it was adjusted only a few times a year. This reduces the load on both pumps and pipes, limits unnecessary energy losses and provides customers with a more stable heat supply.

“This is a strong result, particularly because we have already worked systematically to optimise our district heating network. RACE has shown that there is still room to improve even further. And it is a win-win: we achieve more precise and energy-efficient operation, while our customers benefit from a stable and competitive heat supply,” says Poul Vestergaard Jensen, Head of District Heating at Brønderslev Forsyning.

Benefits even in an already optimised system

The project showed that the potential in Brønderslev did not lie in reducing the supply temperature further, as Brønderslev Forsyning has already worked extensively over the years to lower it. Instead, the potential was found in better control of pressure, flow and bypasses.

“One of the important lessons from RACE is that the future of district heating is not only about lowering temperatures. It is just as much about understanding the network better and controlling it more precisely. This is essential if district heating systems are to operate with lower temperatures, a wider range of heat sources and greater flexibility,” says Henrik Sørensen, Section Manager at AAU Energy.

According to Henrik Sørensen, RACE demonstrates that AI, digital models and intelligent control will become key tools in fourth-generation district heating. Lower temperatures, more new and renewable heat sources and increased flexibility require better knowledge of both the network and consumer demand, enabling future district heating systems to be operated proactively based on real-time input from the network and digital models.

Potential for other district heating companies

The project demonstrates significant and broad potential. Energy savings can be seen across most of the demonstration area and not only in the locations where the intelligent bypasses have been installed.

“This is not only relevant to Brønderslev. Many utilities can benefit from better data and more active control. The larger and more complex the network, the more important it becomes to know what is happening throughout the system and to be able to respond quickly. In RACE, we have collected and structured weather, sensor and SCADA data from the district heating network in an open and flexible data platform, allowing the data to be used directly for AI-based control. The RACE solution is system-independent and can easily be connected to other district heating plants, regardless of the SCADA system or production setup they use,” says Jakob Appel, Managing Partner at Glaze and lead partner in the project.

The experience gained from RACE will now be carried forward in the EUDP-funded RACE 2.0 project, where the technology will be expanded into new areas. The solution will include demand-side management for buildings and consumers, as well as more advanced interaction between heat production, distribution and consumption.