03 June 2018: Ramboll recently participated in an industry round-table in Edinburgh, Scotland, with representatives from the Danish and Scottish governments, including Lars Christian Lilleholt, Minister for Energy, Utilities and Climate, Denmark, the company said in a Press communiqué.

Lilleholt was in Scotland to meet Paul Wheelhouse, Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy, Scotland, and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Danish and Scottish Governments that supports the development of Scottish policy and regulation for District Heating and energy efficiency, the communiqué said.

The MoU comes at a time when Scotland is committed to accelerating the transition to more sustainable sources of energy, setting an ambitious goal to reduce its total CO₂ emissions to 80% by 2050, the communiqué said. Scotland also aims to reduce the energy consumption of buildings by 15% and emissions by 23% by 2032, the communiqué further said.

Commenting on the partnership, Lilleholt said: “I am very pleased to sign this new cooperation agreement, which I hope will support Scotland’s green conversion with Danish energy solutions. Scotland is focusing on low-carbon heating, such as District Heating and increased energy efficiency in buildings, and Denmark is able to offer expert knowledge based on our 40 years of experience.”

According to Ramboll, the MoU will hasten the development of the District Energy regulations in Scotland. “This will lead to actual implementation projects, which again will contribute to a low-carbon energy system,” said Jens Ole Hansen, Global Market Director, Ramboll.

The round-table discussions centred on the issues and challenges affecting Scotland and how the Danish Energy Agency (DEA) can provide support, the communiqué said. “This is notably in the planning of new projects and the development of policy and regulation for District Heating,” said Paul Steen, Associate Director of Energy, Ramboll. “We also discussed how the DEA can use a number of Ramboll projects in Scotland to be shared as exemplars of District Heating to other local authorities,” he added.

According to Ramboll, the company presented a project carried out for Scottish Development International, consisting of a District Heating policy and supply chain review, with the aim of exploring inward investment opportunities from Denmark to Scotland.