This study builds itself upon the discussion among professionals and academics in the Danish energy sector about the transition from mainly coal to biomass resources as fuel for large CHP plants in the Danish energy system. The report present five scenarios and a reference scenario that uses different technologies for the large CHP plants in a larger systems resembling the Danish energy system, with a series of variable renewable energy sources (VRE) capacities. The scenarios models the systems in relation to their electricity production and whether excessive power production is allowed or regulated for.
The report compares the different scenarios under the VRE capacity conditions and finds that the best suited scenario depends highly on the installed VRE capacity in the system. For all scenarios, the utility of the installed wind power declines when more than 5,000 MW installed. For scenarios presenting technologies producing both electricity and heat, flexible scenarios fair significantly better than inflexible ones. The cheapest CHP scenario combusts wood pellets, fitting the current transition trend. However, the system with grid-based syngas shows the largest reduction in fossil fuels, can use domestic fuels and have possibilities that go beyond the scope of the report.