Energi Danmark manages the balance in a groundbreaking PPA agreement between Chr. Hansen and Better Energy

Chr. Hansen and Better Energy are taking responsibility for adding completely new renewable energy to the Danish electricity system through a PPA agreement. The role of Energi Danmark is to balance consumption and production while also managing price risk, as well as Chr. Hansen’s desire to achieve a green balance in its consumption.

Until now, buying green electricity has been a question of reserving some of the existing energy in advance. But every party in this agreement had a desire to do even better – a desire to find a new solution to bring new renewable energy to the market at a competitive price.

No price risk and a goal of 100% green energy

Simply put, Energi Danmark solves two challenges associated with traditional PPA agreements; the elimination of price risk and the management of the difference between consumption and production.

Through this PPA agreement, we, as the balance responsible party, remove the price risk experienced by the customer in traditional PPA agreements. Price risk arises for both the consumer and the producer when consumption and production do not match, e.g. when the sun is not shining. We ensure that this risk is eliminated while also creating clarity and transparency when it comes to billing. We are very proud of this agreement. It shows that it is not only the major data centres that can create PPA agreements, but that all types of companies and public sector customers can now contribute to adding more new green energy to the Danish system.

Mikkel Hauge Jensen, Sales Director at Energi Danmark

Going forward, as the balance responsible party for both consumption and production, Energi Danmark will work constructively on flexible electricity consumption and will optimise supply and demand in the market to benefit society as a whole.

– Creating more new renewable energy is the focal point of the shift to a green energy supply. The PPA agreement puts Chr. Hansen at the forefront of the shift to green energy in Denmark and paves the way for establishing similar innovative solutions for small and medium-sized companies that want to make a positive contribution to Denmark’s overall energy balance, explains Peter Munck Søe-Jensen, Head of Power Production & Asset Management at Better Energy.

Sustainability combined with budget security

The PPA agreement means that Chr. Hansen remains the world leader when it comes to sustainability and also ensures budget security.

For Chr. Hansen, it has been essential to ensure that we can continue to achieve budget security when it comes to our electricity costs, in addition to creating new green energy in Denmark. It could be said that Energi Danmark ensures price hedging of Better Energy rather than buying electricity for us at the energy exchange. In addition to this agreement, we have asked Energi Danmark to create a green balance 24/7 based on the ordinary certificate market. Accordingly, at Chr. Hansen, we take responsibility not only for adding new renewable energy but also for ensuring that the future energy market consists of a mixture of renewable energy sources.

Jesper Deela Nielsen, Senior Category Manager, Global Sourcing at Chr. Hansen