New Analysis: Denmark’s Green Power and Gas Grid Enables a ‘Third Pillar’ of Critical Digital Infrastructure

The paper, "Denmark as a Data Center Nation: Building the Third Pillar of Europe’s Green and Digital Future", presents a clear framework for how data centers can evolve from passive electricity consumers to active partners in the energy system, thereby strengthening flexibility, supporting renewable growth, and attracting high-value digital investments.

Europe Faces a Delivery Bottleneck

The whitepaper calls for stronger alignment between policymakers, regulators, and the energy sector. Digital demand is rising rapidly across Europe, yet grid bottlenecks and long connection queues continue to delay both industrial and digital projects.

“Denmark has the energy system, the skills, and the industrial ecosystem to become Europe’s green digital frontrunner. If we integrate data centers into the energy system, we not only strengthen our own energy transition, but we also unlock a commercial opportunity. Danish companies are already delivering world-class solutions to the global data center industry, and a strong home market can multiply that export potential,” says Henrik Hansen, CEO of DDI.

The ‘Third Pillar’: From Electricity Consumers to Energy Partners

The white paper presents a model where data centers contribute actively to the energy system through:

• integrated planning with renewables and district heating,
• operational flexibility and load shifting,
• hour-by-hour verified green operation aligned with EU standards.

This creates more efficient multi-energy zones and strengthens Denmark’s overall energy resilience.

Why Denmark Is Well-Positioned

Denmark’s highly renewable electricity system, strong Nordic interconnections, advanced district heating, and a mature digital-energy ecosystem gives Denmark a unique competitive advantage.

Denmark’s competitive advantage also comes from its well-developed energy infrastructure - not only a highly renewable electricity system, but also a mature gas network that supports sector coupling, energy storage, and future Power-to-X integration.

Merima Dzanic, Head of Strategy & Operations, DDI, comments “Global investors are looking for places where sustainability is verifiable, infrastructure is reliable, and planning processes are coordinated. Denmark can meet all three if we integrate digital and energy planning. This is how we remain competitive in the next wave of digital infrastructure.”
 

A Roadmap for Action

To realize this potential, the whitepaper recommends:

1. Establishing Green Digital Zones where energy and digital planning is coordinated from the outset
2. Strengthening governance and cross-ministerial alignment so digital and energy strategies evolve together
3. Enabling participation in flexibility and balancing markets
4. Scaling Power-to-X and energy-system pilots that integrate data centers with renewable generation and heat networks
5. Reinforcing grid capacity in key hubs
6. Standardizing hourly green documentation aligned with EU rules

Read the Full Whitepaper

Download Whitepaper for full analysis, including the detailed roadmap, market context, and policy recommendations.