The Danish island Samsø, may only be 114km2 and have less than 4,000 residents, but it has made an outsize contribution in the battle against climate change. It has completely transformed its energy system in the past quarter of a century, becoming the world’s first renewable energy island. It also won a Global Climate Action award last year at COP26, a testament to the progress it has made in the past three decades.
It is no surprise that a Danish island would lead the way when it comes to renewables: the first wind turbine was designed by a Danish physicist Poul La Cour in 1891, which was used to generate electricity for the small town of Askov.
Fast forward to 1991, and the world’s first offshore wind farm was built in Vindeby, 2km off the country’s southern coast. Its 11 turbines were able to power the equivalent of 2,200 homes for a year, a relatively small output compared to today’s most advanced market, but a gamechanger at the time.
“Denmark is a small country with limited natural resources but very independent thinking people,” says Soren Hermansen, Director of the Samsø Energy Academy, one of the main figures behind the island’s journey to carbon neutrality. “After the oil crisis in the 1970s, and the No to Nuclear campaign, Denmark decided to kick start green innovation,” he adds. Denmark is one of the EU’s biggest producers of oil, although in 2020 it committed to end its extraction of fossil fuels by 2050.
Today, Denmark gets around 40 per cent of its electricity from wind power and is also home to Vesta Systems, the world’s largest wind turbine producer. Yet there was nothing easy about what Samsø did. Back in 1997, Samsø Municipality made the decision to become a “renewable energy island” by 2007. In 1997, the island’s electricity came via an undersea cable from mainland Denmark’s grid, with coal supplying most of the power. Oil shipped from the mainland was the primary energy source for heating Samsø’s homes and businesses, as it was also for virtually all transportation on the island.
The core of the financing model was the participation of citizens and stakeholders and local ownership of the renewable energy investments. This led to significant benefits for the island community and economy, new jobs and local growth. Yet despite the benefits, not everyone was happy with the new direction. “The hardest part was all the sceptics,” says Hermansen. “Maybe [they were] not a large group but there are always some grumpy citizens who wants to disrupt any change they do not feel part of themselves. Often they can be quite aggressive. Another issue is shifting governments who change politics every four years. It can be hard to keep up with the lobbying.”
Yet Samsø kept making progress. By 2000, 11 wind turbines supplied the island’s 22 villages with energy, while in 2002, 10 offshore wind turbines were installed. Since 2002, more electric cars have been purchased and Europe’s first Liquid Natural Gas-powered ferry was commissioned (which emits 90 per cent less NOx and 20 per cent less CO2 than a traditional diesel ferry).. It wasn’t just transport that was revolutionised – Three district heating systems were constructed, which supply the island’s houses with heating and hot water from biomass (straw grown on the island).
A key part of the project’s success was securing finance. “Investment was crucial,” Hermansen says. “Any technical changes need financing, and this is where a bold and determined government comes in. When the numbers are right, green investment is the same as [fossil fuel] investment.” And the green investment in Samsø – estimated at around €57 million – created lots of local jobs, with solar panels needing to be installed and wind farms needing technicians.
To tackle its remaining emissions Samsø will use renewable electricity to cover heating and transport needs and will explore the option of locally produced biogas and renewable electricity as fuels for the ferries. Through these new investments, Samsø will become completely carbon-free by 2030 and will keep inspiring communities and local leaders and governments around the world to take local climate action.
“It is hard to say if we are on track now; the hardest part still remains,” Hermansen says. “Transport (specifically ferries) are hard to change. A 90-minute crossing with 600 passengers and 160 cars takes a lot of energy and batteries are not there yet, but there is a very fast development so we cross our fingers.”
Samsø’s success has not been restricted to the island however; it has inspired other communities, both in Denmark and around the world, to follow in its footsteps. A key part of this outreach is the Samsø Energy Academy, founded in 2007, which functions as both a research and conference centre, hosting visiting academics, planners and researchers who want to learn from Samsø’s experience.
“The Academy was and still is a response to the growing number of visitors coming from around the world,” says Hermansen. “It is a place of our own where we can work with people and interest groups.” So far, the Academy’s influence has spread far and wide with “sister projects” in Australia, Japan, Maine, South Korea and Estonia among others.