How Esbjerg is 'living, not talking' the energy transition

Esbjerg is the energy metropolis of Denmark. Enlit on the Road spoke to the city’s Mayor Jesper Frost Rasmussen about how they are “not talking about the green transition, we are actually doing it for a living.”

The city is known for leading in green energy projects and for Mayor Rasmussen, they are only going to continue to pave the way forward.

States Rasmussen: "We have been leading in installation of the offshore wind farms for years. Now we are going into the next level. We are stepping into producing the green fuels: hydrogen and ammonium and so on.

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"With the new district heating system in Esbjerg, we are connecting all these parts - the excess heat from these green fuels' production and basing the heating of the city on a sea water heat pump etc."

For Rasmussen, its important to emphasis how these are no longer theoretical ideas, but rather realities for those living and working in the city.

"Connecting all these energy forms in real life is not prototyping, it's actually what we will heat the city up with in the future."

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It is in getting to this point, the Mayor states the importance of a shared mindset: "The strength of Esbjerg is that there are so many companies working towards the same goal: the municipality, the port and all the companies. We have more than 250 companies working in the energy sector."

Make sure to watch the rest of Rasmussen's interview for the story of the city's transformation into an energy hub and the role of the Esbjerg declaration in making the North Sea "a green power plant for Europe."