A land brimming with energy

STATUS | CLIMATE AND ENERGY COMPANIES

By Inge Kjærgaard

There are between 700 and 800 companies in Denmark with activities in the climate and energy sector, spread chiefly across three competence areas: biomass, wind and intelligent solutions for buildings.

“There is a great deal of interest in climate-friendly initiatives, and Danish companies are very progressive in this area. Many people think that we need to start finding solutions to the CO2 problem, but that isn’t necessary. We already have them – they just need implementing more extensively,” says Kristian Wederkinck Olesen, communications consultant at Climate Consortium Denmark, the official focal point for all Danish business-related activities leading up to the UN Climate Change Conference, COP15, in Copenhagen in December.

Denmark can thank the oil crisis in the 1970s for the favourable position it now occupies. Because that was when energy and security of supply came into focus, both at government level and across Danish society as a whole. A strategy was set in train to decrease dependency on oil, and considerable attention has been given to green energy ever since.

“A framework has been created in Denmark that makes it interesting to be a company in the climate and energy sector. The Danish government has favourable tax rules for those who save on energy, and naturally the energy companies have realised there is an incentive to develop themselves and improve their product. The main players have brought a large number of sub-suppliers into being, and now we have a wide range of energy companies,” explains Kristian Wederkinck Olesen.

There are good prospects for energy companies. The Danish government hopes that the conference will result in an ambitious climate agreement which lays down binding CO2 reduction targets for every country in the world, leading to even greater focus on energy-saving products.

CMS - Monitoring of the mechanical parts such as the motor, gearbox, shafts and transformer. Data is continuously sent to service staff and owners via the SCADA system Gateway. Mita-Teknik CMS is certificated by Allianz.

A wind turbine looks so simple standing there in the landscape – the blades rotating at a steady pace, peacefully generating electricity. But within the turbine nacelle lurks a lot of complicated electronics which ensure that the turbine functions as it should.

It is often only the company which has manufactured the turbine that one hears about, such as Vestas, Enercon or GE Energy. But behind these giant companies there are a host of sub-suppliers. One of them is Denmark’s Mita-Teknik, which develops and produces control concepts for wind turbines. The product range consists of an overall control system (the brain in the turbine), a sensor system, power panels and electronics. In fact everything which makes the wind turbine function as it should.

The company is a seasoned player in the market – it has existed since 1969 and has been around for the entire development of the modern wind turbine industry, so the wind turbine equipment business area has become an increasingly important part of the company. And Mita-Teknik is not only located in Denmark – the company has development, sales, support and production facilities in Germany, Spain, Ukraine, India, China and Malaysia.

“The wind turbine market has become a lot more international, and we want to be competitive on the international market. It is also about proximity – we want to be close to customers so that we can provide a fast and local service,” says Mita-Teknik director Jesper Andersen.

Illustration: Mita-Teknik

Interest in the wind turbine industry has been steadily increasing over the last 30 years, and the director of Mita-Teknik does not see it waning in the future. He just sees a trend that means more contact with the whole world.

“Our company is moving towards an even more international future. Major new market areas will continuously emerge, and we will naturally target them. We will continue to have our platform in Denmark, but we are constantly working on having a setup out in the world which can contribute to the company’s success,” says Jesper Andersen.

And Mita-Teknik is a company which is very much looking out beyond Denmark’s borders. 95% of sales are direct exports to wind turbine manufacturers worldwide.

The two-man company DrivhusEffekten (The Greenhouse Effect) was founded with the single purpose of making a difference to the environment. It advises companies on how they can improve their image by thinking in environmentally-friendly terms – and at the same time put black numbers on the bottom line.

“Our message is ’Cool business and common sense’. There is money to be made by being environmentally conscious, and you can use it actively to strengthen your own image. We want to refute the idea that it is costly to be environmentally friendly,” says Hans Andersen, a partner in DrivhusEffekten.

Advice can comprise a review of how customers can achieve a greener profile, but DrivhusEffekten can also take the task the whole way and ensure that a greener profile becomes a reality.

One of the company’s clients is Copenhagen Zoo, which will hold a conference for all the zoos in Europe in September. DrivhusEffekten’s task is to ensure that the conference will be CO2 neutral. It includes a calculation of CO2 emissions in connection with transport to the conference, as well as the energy consumption of the conference itself. At the end of the event, a total CO2 figure will be calculated. To cover it, either CO2 quotas will be purchased or if possible a solar cell array produced for an equivalent sum. The possible array will be placed at the headquarters of the European Association of Zoos and Aquarias at Amsterdam Zoo.

One of DrivhusEffekten’s future plans is to focus on solar cells.

The company has contacted the world’s largest solar cell manufacturer, Norway’s REC Group, which does not currently supply its products to the Danish market. In collaboration with them, DrivhusEffekten will introduce solar cells in Denmark that are cheaper than the current market price.

“Pricewise it must be attractive to buy solar cells in Denmark. Solar cells are an obvious way for companies to become more climate conscious and at the same make a statement that people can see. There is visible branding value in it,” says Andersen.

llustration: NKT Flexibles

The founders of DrivhusEffekten, Bjarne Rasmussen (left) and Hans Andersen. Photo: Drivhuseffekten

Denmark’s NKT was the first company in the world to produce flexible pipes that can also withstand high pressure. In 1968, NKT was to supply submarine cables to the small island of Heimaey, which is part of Iceland. There were problems in providing clean water to the island, and NKT hatched the idea of removing the copper wires from the current-carrying cables, so that water could be transported through the cavity.

The 14 kilometre pipe is still transporting water to the island and last year, exactly 40 years after the first pipe was laid, it gained a ’sister’ pipe, technically more modern and with a slightly larger diameter, but otherwise based on the same principle. In the intervening years, NKT has supplied several island communities with water in UK, Croatia, Italy, Greece and the Seychelles.

The special thing about this pipe is its flexibility, which means that it can be laid on the seabed where it follows the seabed contours. A steel pipe would sit statically and be destroyed by sea currents. The flexible polymer pipe is not destroyed, and can withstand the high pressure at great depth.

“Our water pipe programme comprises both pipes for supplying drinking water to isolated town and island communities lacking a natural or sufficient water supply, and pipes for environmental improvements in the form of wastewater treatment”, says Jakob Zeuner, area sales manager for NKT Flexibles.

NKT is currently working on water projects in Brazil, UK, West Africa, Australia and the Middle East.

“Water is an important resource for everyone, and we enter the collaboration so that everyone can have a share of that resource. With our pipe technology we can get water out to those regions of the world which do not have clear water themselves,” says Jakob Zeuner.

Private dwellings with leaking windows, bad heating systems – in short, houses that were built in an era when energy requirements were different – are some of the biggest culprits when it comes to CO2 emissions. Together with business premises, they account for 40 per cent of the CO2 that is discharged into the atmosphere in Denmark. But the Danish state and companies in the construction industry have a plan.

Illustration: Henning Larsen Architects

EnergyFlexHouse is the setting for a broad collaboration between the Danish Technological Institute and a number of Danish companies. It consists of two houses that were completed in May, which provide a special opportunity to create the most energy-friendly building by testing how different energy-saving products can work interactively with each other.

“There are lots of different products and technologies being produced, which are tested and approved separately, but now we have the opportunity to test how they actually work together. Many of them need to be adjusted to get the optimal end products and the most energy-friendly house,” explains Mikael Grimmig, project manager at the Danish Technological Institute.

EnergyFlexHouse consists of two parts: EnergyFlexLab and EnergFlexFamily. In the FlexLab, many different installations can be developed and tested together. Changes can quickly be made to for example heating systems, ventilation systems and windows, providing the opportunity to test many different technologies in interplay and find the best possible combinations. After that, the most promising combined solutions are tested for user-friendliness in the FlexFamily house, because no matter how well the technologies may have been thought through, they may perform very differently when human beings take them into use.

“It is always a challenge when people and technology have to work together. The technology can be so complicated that the user does not understand it – and then the technology is not exploited or in the worst case is exploited wrongly. So it is also about seeking to make an intelligent user interface, so that the technology is used optimally. Otherwise smart solutions make no difference,” says Mikael Grimmig.

Companies can develop their product in collaboration with the Danish Technological Institute, and by having it tested in combination with other products and technologies, they can create an even better product, which benefits the climate.

EnergyFlexHouse is not solely geared to the Danish construction industry.

“Construction and energy technology are naturally very different from country to country. There is a big difference between building concepts for a house in Denmark and for example in China or USA. The technology in connection with buildings must be adjusted to conditions in the individual countries, and that is another challenge we have taken up,” says Mikael Grimmig.

Photo: Danish Tecnological Institute.

EnergyFlexHouse will be open during COP15 in December 2009.

EnergyFlexHouse will be open during COP15, and the Danish Technological Institute naturally hopes to receive visits from delegations. But the most important thing is the period that follows.

“We see the climate summit as the starting signal for a long and comprehensive effort, where the solutions from Energy-FlexHouse come into play. It is a building playground for idea makers, technicians and users and a strong international marking of Denmark’s position in energy efficiency improvement,” says Mikael Grimmig.