Based on these analyses, a ten-year implementation plan has been defined:
- Expansion of district heating from the present 46e65% of the Danish heat market, equal to 80% of the buildings in question.
- Individual heat pumps in the remaining buildings, equal to 20% of the buildings in question.
- Gradual improvement of the district heating technology and operation introduced, among others, by lowering the temperature in the distribution system along with implementing energy conservation in the buildings.
- Additional investments in the district heating production plants including the addition of heat pumps, solar thermal, geothermal and biomass boilers to the existing CHP plants (Combined heat and power production units).
Such investment programme has been compared to a reference in which the existing boilers are kept and the system is expected to be gradually improved and transformed into a future sustainable energy system. Compared to the existing system (anno 2010), the system in 2020 is assumed to have undergone the following main changes: