The Danish Energy Authority has released the region's preliminary energy statistics for 2006, which show that actual Danish energy consumption increased by 6.2% in 2006 over 2005, to reach 881PJ. Nevertheless, Denmark produced 45% more energy than it consumed in 2006, the only EU country to do so.
According to the authority, the increase in energy consumption was primarily because the net imports of electricity for 2005 were replaced by significant net electricity exports in 2006. The body added that increasing electricity exports have led to a large rise in fuel consumption by Danish power plants, and this has also increased CO2 emissions.
The authority said that, after adjustment for foreign trade in electricity and climate fluctuations, gross energy consumption in Denmark increased by 1.4% in 2006, but said that this increase should be considered in reference to growth in Danish gross domestic product of 3.2%.
Meanwhile, higher coal consumption in Danish power plants led to actual CO2 emissions in 2006 rising by 16% over 2005. Nevertheless, the authority commented that, since 1990, adjusted CO2 emissions have dropped by 13.7%.
The authority said that, in 2006, total Danish energy production fell by 5.6% over 2005, while crude oil production fell by 9.1% in the same period. In addition, production of natural gas fell by 0.6%, while production of renewable energy remained stable. Despite reduced production, Denmark was self-sufficient, generating more energy than it used.
The decreased production did, however, cause crude oil, electricity and natural gas prices to rise in 2006, the authority said. These higher prices gave rise to record net currency revenues from overall energy trade in 2006, which were DKK30 billion, compared with DKK22.2 billion in 2005.