District heating systems cover the vast majority of residential heating services in Iceland and Denmark, and well over half in Finland and Sweden. District heating is a complementary technology to variable renewables as it is a source of flexibility. Denmark utilises heat alongside flexible thermal generation and electricity trade to integrate wind power equal to 43% of electricity demand in 2017. District heating systems are even capable of long-term storage by using large hot water pits.

Download “10 Insights into the Nordic energy system.”