Is biomethane significant to the gas supply in denmark?
Published 18.12.2020 09.58
The Security of Gas Supply Report will provide the answer to this and much more. In fact, biomethane now poses as a real source of supply to the Danish gas market. Biomethane reduces dependency on future gas imports. The temporary shutdown of the until now primary source of gas supply - The Tyra complex in the North Sea – has occurred without any challenges to the security of supply in Denmark.
Biomethane is starting to contribute to the security of supply. The share of biomethane in the gas system has been steadily rising for many years, and still does. This means that the share of gas consumption being met by biomethane has also increased. Biomethane injected into the gas system is expected to account for more than 20 % of Danish gas consumption from the grid by the end of 2020.
The share of biomethane is considerably higher in the summer when gas consumption is low. On a single day in July, the biomethane share exceeded 40 % and this share will only increase as consumption of natural gas is phased out.
Torben Brabo, CEO of Energinet Gas TSO, is pleased with the development in biomethane: “The security of gas supply has historically been tied to one central source of supply in the North Sea, the gas storage facilities, and later from Germany. This image is shifting, and Denmark will see a further increase in local supply of biomethane in the coming years. This means that biomethane is expected to cover 63 % of Danish gas consumption in 2030 and 100 % in 2040.”
Biomethane and transit gas are changing the principles for security of supply
The supply of biomethane from biogas plants scattered throughout most of Denmark means that there are many small local sources of supply in several parts of the gas system. Baltic Pipe will commence operation in 2022, resulting in considerable volumes of gas transported through Denmark, including a different operation of the Danish gas system. The large volumes of gas will make the supply in Denmark more robust.
Security of supply was high during the first year without Tyra
The first winter without gas from the Tyra complex passed uneventfully. Until the Tyra complex reopens, which will not happen until 1st June 2023, Denmark is more vulnerable to gas supply disruptions or extraordinary demand for gas. Despite the delay to re-open the Tyra complex, the supply situation in Denmark is still deemed to be robust.
No challenges from high gas prices nor fluctuations in gas quality
The reduced supply of gas from the North Sea has led to lower supply of gas to the Danish gas market. However, the high gas prices never materialised, and prices have been historically low for most of the period following the shutdown of the Tyra complex. There was even an expecta-tion of negative gas prices at times.
While the Tyra complex is being reconstructed, less gas is supplied from the North Sea and more gas comes via Germany. This has changed the gas quality for Danish consumers during the peri-od but has generally not given rise to any problems for consumers.
Read further in the report on how “First Year without Tyra saw an oversupply of gas, historically low prices, and storage expansion” and how “Hydrogen and Power-to-X became mainstream in 2020”.
