Insight

How to lighten the load on a congested grid

Sep 23, 2025

Microgrids: Using the energy better and smarter

With the increasing global development of renewable energy and a rising adoption of electric systems, new challenges arise. The power grid cannot keep up with the growth of renewable generation and electrical consumption everywhere, leading to delays in sustainable projects and economic development. For example, a Danish e-methanol plant scheduled for delivery of 100,000 tonnes per year was put on hold due to issues with grid connection.

Instead of investing exclusively in heavy grid reinforcement in the long term, there are several ways we can make smarter use of the existing grid already now.

Microgrids

Combining energy production and offtake

Renewable energy can be directly inserted as feedstock in the production of green fuels such as hydrogen and methanol. By transforming it from atoms to molecules, the energy can either be used as green alternatives in hard-to-abate sectors such as shipping fuel or plastic production, or it can be stored and transformed back to electricity at a later point.

These power-to-x facilities can also be combined with battery storage systems for even greater flexibility. This is the case at our Måde green hydrogen facility in Denmark.

Energy production and offtake

Microgrids bring significant value for both developers and society

As a developer of renewable energy, microgrids unlock a series of benefits. They allow for multiple income streams such as direct power sale, methanol offtake, district heating, and ancillary services to the grid. They also reduce exposure to power price volatility with on-site generation and storage.

Society also greatly profits from microgrids, with overall system balancing costs being reduced, local supply of energy being more reliable and flexible, and the dependence on fossil energy forms being decreased, all in all strengthening local supply autonomy.