Unfortunately, we experienced a drop in exports from 2014 till 2015. This is due to a decline in sales of wind turbine technology to Great Britain and Sweden. Hopefully, it is only a small bump on the road, but there is still reason to consider how we can tune the export motor in Denmark to run faster.

At the Confederation of Danish Industry, we have taken an initiative to create a dialog between the energy industry’s companies, organisations and authorities to create a strategy to strengthen the export. We cooperate with the Minister of Energy, Utilities and Climate on the strategy and we participated in a dialogue meeting to outline the obstacles for future export and a series of ideas were discussed. 

State of Green
Already today, a lot of effort is being put into branding and promoting Danish energy companies internationally. The public-private organisation State of Green has managed to strengthen the narrative about Danish competencies within green technology and has proactively spread the story around the world. State of Green has a well visited website, an international visitors programme and produces marketing materials, which is used for business promotion at Danish Embassies and Consulates abroad. We should strengthen this initiative further by being more goal-oriented to attracted costumers and investors from the most interesting markets.

Authorities
There is an international demand on Danish energy technology products and solutions. The products’ credibility is being increased when Danish authorities are explaining their international partners how the Danish solutions are working in practice. Our ultimate wish is for the Danish authorities to strengthen the dialogue with their partners in the prioritised export markets such as; Germany, Great Britain and USA. We know from previous experiences that it is beneficial for the export. The authorities’ opportunity to support the export in wider circles of countries, for example through the Embassies, should also be strengthened.

Mission Innovation
The technological development is growing. Today, Danish companies are among some of the best when it comes to developing and demonstrating modern energy solutions, but we have to keep on developing the solutions if we want to maintain our leading position. Denmark is part of the international initiative 'Mission Innovation', whose purpose is to strengthen the technological development within green energy. Significant resources have to be devoted in Denmark, both in the public and private sector, to develop and demonstrate new energy solutions, which can become the next export achievements. 

Denmark as a production country
The energy industry has the same challenges as many other industries in Denmark. What good is it, that there is an international demand for our modern and efficient energy solutions, when we can’t produce the products in a competitive way in Denmark? We need to focus on reducing expenses, de-bureaucratisation, finances and access to qualified labour on all levels. It is necessary in order to secure that the expected growth leads to increased Danish export and jobs.

There are good opportunities to increase the energy industry’s export the coming years. The market is growing, but the competition is also growing. Let’s get the strategy in place and start the initiatives, so that the energy industry can continue to be an important export engine for Denmark. 

Source: Confederation of Danish Industry