Danish energy transition in times of crises – domestic challenges for a climate leader

The current energy crises affect everyone including climate leaders like Denmark, who also need to respond to exogenous changes in energy supply as well as implementing the European Green Deal. Indeed, the Danish government is a strong supporter of the European Green Deal and there is substantial political will to support renewable energy projects. Whilst many other countries have responded to the energy crises by pushed back their energy transition and increase their use of coal, the Danish government has reinforced its investment in energy transition thereby simultaneously hoping to address the problems of imported fossil fuel energy and progressing with its commitment to the European Green Deal. However, the Danish electricity grid is increasingly challenged by electrification, and the recent energy crises have affected the supply of fossil fuels, especially heating and transport sectors, as those sectors have to find alternative energy sources and reduce their reliance on imported fossil fuels, these changes in energy supply require investment in new energy infrastructure. Thus, the energy transition and energy crises necessitate structural and system changes, which begs the question of to what extent the current situation leads to institutional and structural changes to Danish energy policies. This paper analyses changes in Danish energy policy in relation to implementing the EGD and responding to the energy crises. The paper uses historical institutionalism to analyse how Denmark is adapting to these exogenous factors i.e. EGD and energy crises. Overall, the paper argues that the EU energy policy and recent energy crises have not led to significant changes in Danish energy policy, instead they have pushed forward existing policy ideas and thereby accelerated the energy transition, which have exposed some of the existing weaknesses in the energy system. As such the Danish energy system is at a critical juncture, where investment in renewable energy project must be accompanied by investments in the grid.