Electricity
Information on rights and obligations regarding electricity consumption for business owners.
Here you can find information on rights and obligations regarding electricity consumption for business owners. You can also find information about electricity suppliers or balance responsible parties. Furthermore, you can find information about what conditions you need to follow if you wish to produce electricity on large power plants.
Electricity consumption for businesses
Find information on rights and obligations regarding electricity consumption for business owners here.
In order to get electricity in your business premises, you must enter an agreement with an electricity supplier. There is a free choice of electricity supplier. It is also possible to change electricity supplier free of charge.
The website Elpris.dk (new window) contains a price-comparing portal of electricity suppliers and products available in Denmark for customers with an annual electricity consumption below 100,000 kWh. Please note that the information is only available in Danish. Companies with larger consumption will have to obtain offers directly from their potential suppliers.
In accordance with the Danish implementation of EU legislation, consumers have the right to have electricity delivered to their premises through connections to the local electricity grids. Each local grid has one designated distribution grid operator. The company designated to manage the particular local distribution grid in your area is responsible for connecting your premise to the local grid.
If you wish to connect new buildings or other addresses not previously connected to the electricity grid with electricity, it is required that you contact an electrician. The electrician will contact the grid company which will install an electricity meter. This service is subject to a fee.
If you are a very large electricity consumer and fulfil certain characteristics, you may get connected directly to the transmission grid instead of the distribution grid. Very few consumers are large enough. However, one example is large data centres, where it can be the optimal technical and economic solution to connect directly to the transmission grid. You must always contact your local grid company when you have to connect to the grid. The local grid company and Energinet (the national transmission system operator) will evaluate which voltage level your company should connect to. If your company is suited for the transmission grid, the connection will follow the process of the Demand Connection Code. You can find more information about connection to the transmission grid at Energinet's webpage via this link (new window).
The non-commercial lobby organisation for Danish energy companies, Danish Energy (Dansk Energi), operates a website where you can find the grid company operating the distribution network in your local area. You can find the grid company by entering your address in the search bar. You can access Danish Energy’s website via this link (new window). Please note that the information is only available in Danish.
An electricity meter registers your electricity consumption. Your grid company owns your electricity meter.
By the end of 2020, all end consumers will have a remotely read electricity meter (smart meter) installed by their grid company. The executive order no. 75 of 25 January 2019 contains functional requirements for remotely read electricity meters, which the grid companies are obliged to set up. With the remotely read electricity meter installed on your premises, you do not have to read and settle your actual consumption on a yearly basis, as previously required.
It is often possible to find information about the electricity meters on your local grid company’s website. You can find your grid company via this link to Danish Energy’s website(new window). Please note that the information is only available in Danish.
As an electricity consumer, your electricity is delivered from an electricity supplier – not your grid company. You receive one combined electricity bill from your electricity supplier containing all relevant charges, including both the payment for the electricity consumed, payment for the transport of the electricity through the grid, taxes etc.
The grid companies are merely responsible for tasks related to operation, maintenance, necessary reconstruction and expansion of the electricity grid, measurement of electricity consumption, and energy savings.
You can find more information about your payment obligations by following the links below. Please note that the information is only available in Danish.
Look up your electricity consumption via this link to Spar Energi’s website (new window)
Find more information about electricity prices, suppliers and more via this link to Elpris’s website (new window)
The website Elpris.dk contains a price comparison portal across all electricity suppliers and electricity products available in Denmark. The Danish Utility Regulator operates this website. The portal only addresses private customers and businesses with an electricity consumption up to 100.000 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year. You can access Elpris.dk via this link (new window). Please note that the information is only available in Danish.
In order to switch electricity supplier, contact the supplier with whom you wish to sign a new agreement. They will assist you in the process, and send you a new agreement to sign. Your new supplier will inform the previous supplier of your switch.
Upon contacting the new supplier, please have ready your so-called meter number (aftagenummer) which appears on your electricity bill. In case your company has multiple meters, your current supplier can assist you with an overview of all the electricity meter numbers.
You can complain to the electricity supplier regarding matters concerning the contractual relationship and the measured electricity use. If the complaint concerns net technical matters of urgency, the electricity supplier is required to put you in contact with the relevant grid company or Energinet through a 24-hour service.
If your complaint is not significantly different from a complaint concerning a private customer, you can also complain to the Danish Energy Supplies Complaint Board. Find more information on the complaint board’s website (new window). Please note that the information is only available in Danish.
Other disputes will be settled according to Danish law and the local court.
There are different acts and executive orders that apply to electricity supply and consumption in Denmark. You can find the most important ones below. Please note that all the acts and orders are in Danish.
Act no. 119 of 6 February 2020, the Electricity Supply Act (new window)
Act no. 308 of 24 March 2017, the Electricity Tax Act (new window)
Executive order no. 1322 of 30 November 2010, the Electricity Labelling Order (new window)
Executive order no. 1233 of 06 November 2015, the Executive order on electricity supply (new window)
Electricity production
If you wish to produce electricity on large power plants, please be aware that the following conditions apply.
Pursuant to section 11 of act no. 984 of 12 May 2021, the Electricity Supply Act, construction of electricity production plants and substantial alterations of such plants may only be carried out after having obtained a permission from the Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities, in practice given by the Danish Energy Agency. Smaller plants might be exempt from this requirement if they fall under one of the classifications listed in section 1 (2-3) of the executive order no. 2654 of 28 December 2021, Executive Order on Electricity Production. In the same executive order, it is described how to apply for such permissions in section 9. Read more about it on the Danish Energy Agency’s website. Please note that the information is only available in Danish.
Pursuant to section 10 of act no. 984 of 12 May 2021, the Electricity Supply Act, electricity production from plants with a capacity of more than 25 MW may only be carried out by companies having obtained a licence for electricity production from the Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities, in practice given by the Danish Energy Agency. The Danish Energy Agency has made available a note on the practices for issuing such licences, which you can find on the agency’s website here (new window). You can find more information on electricity production licences on the Danish Energy Agency’s website (new window). Please note that the information is only available in Danish.
If you wish to complain about a decision made by either the Danish Energy Agency, the Danish Utility Regulator, Energinet, or the municipalities on matters concerning energy, you can submit a complaint to The Danish Energy Board of Appeal (Energiklagenævnet). The complaint must go through Digital Post. Please find information on how to complain on the Danish Energy Board of Appeal’s website (new window). Please note that the information is only available in Danish.
You can find the most important acts and executive orders on electricity production below. Please note that all the acts and orders are in Danish.
Act no. 984 of 12 May 2021, the Electricity Supply Act (new window)
Executive order no. 2654 of 28 December 2021, Executive Order on Electricity Production (new window)
Supplier and balance responsible party
Find information about electricity suppliers or balance responsible parties (BRP) here.
The electricity supplier buys electricity and sells it to the customers. As an electricity supplier, you are responsible, among other things, for supplying electricity to and collecting payment from the customers. You must meet a number of mandatory requirements before you can act in the Danish electricity market as an electricity supplier. This link to Energinet’s website (new window) refers to information regarding the different requirements. You can also find a guide on how to become an electricity supplier in Denmark by clicking the aforementioned link.
The role of the balance responsible parties is to ensure within their portfolios the hourly balance between electricity bought and sold for example on electricity exchanges or traded with other counterparties. It is possible to become a balance responsible party for consumption, production and trade. There are a number of mandatory requirements for balance responsible parties.
This link to Energinet’s website (new window) refers to information regarding the requirements and provides guidance on how to get started as a new balance responsible party in Denmark. The terms for balance responsibility are described in Market Regulation C1: Terms for balance responsibility.
The legal basis upon which Energinet describes the terms for balance responsibility is provided in act no. 119 of 6 February 2020, the Electricity Supply Act section 28 (2). You can find the act via the website Retsinformation.dk (new window). Please note that the act is in Danish.
