The Danish Centre for Energy Storage (Daces) has called for a long-term national battery strategy.
In a policy briefing (in Danish), it also said energy storage needs to be prioritised as an independent strategic theme when grants are made from public or private bodies. Finally, it called on the Danish government to create supportive terms for the use of home-produced renewable energy by energy companies and co-operatives.
Anne Marie Damgaard, head of Daces, said: “Rechargeable batteries are playing a key role in the green transition, but they don’t figure very much politically in Denmark. They’ve faded into the background in relation to other important technologies such as wind, carbon capture and power-to-X. But that should change now.”
Kim Grøn Knudsen, Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer at battery materials company Topsoe, said there is a lot of potential in making batteries a Danish strength. Topsoe makes lithium-nickel-manganese oxide (LNMO) cathode material.
The centre’s briefing document said Greenland (autonomous, but not independent from Denmark) has considerable mining potential for critical minerals including graphite, nickel, cobalt and lithium. There has been limited mining (access is difficult) but mineral exploration is underway, with several world-class finds having been made. Since 2009, Greenland has been in charge of issuing its own exploration licences.
The briefing said the lack of Danish political support stands in sharp contrast to the strong ambitions set out by the European Commission. “Denmark is a blot on the European battery map with a lack of large-scale activity of the entire battery value chain,” it said.
Daces said the Danish battery sector has recognised university researchers. Its emphasis on the circular economy should put Denmark in a good position to contribute to the EU recycling targets. Stena Recycling is already a prominent player in battery recycling.
Other identified strengths include production of battery materials and electrolytes, manufacture of flow and solid state batteries, consulting and test facilities, machine learning and autonomous laboratories.
Photo: Sunset over Nuuk. Greenland has considerable mining potential for critical minerals. Shutterstock