Denmark’s climate MP Lars Aagaard explains country’s nuclear pursuit as vital to ambitious climate action

Denmark’s climate and energy minister says that any country serious about climate change and ensuring their electricity grid is reliable and secure should be looking at nuclear.

Lars Aagaard, who is due to visit Australia with King Frederik and Queen Mary in March, is investigating how small modular nuclear reactors could fit into his country’s system despite Denmark, like Australia, having a decades-old ban on the power source.

He sees it as much about energy security and reducing reliance on Russian or American oil and gas as a way to meet Denmark’s hefty emissions reduction targets.

Speaking with this masthead in Copenhagen shortly after attending an emotional church service marking the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr Aagaard said Europe had been “totally dependent” on imported fossil fuels.

He led a push last year to ban Russian gas sales from October 2027 but said this wouldn’t solve Europe’s fundamental problem.

“That doesn’t mean that Europe will stop its consumption of gas, so it will just move the dependence to somebody else. And this is for Europe not an acceptable position to be in in the long run,” he said.

“Europe needs to get control over our energy resources. And how can we do that?

“Renewables, solar and wind are probably the cheapest and the fastest. But … we cannot have a system, an energy system, where you only have intermittent renewables, you need something else. So therefore, for me, nuclear is part of the answer.”

We need nuclear globally

The Danish parliament last year voted with a two-thirds majority to authorise an investigation into nuclear power.

This is seen as a precursor to lifting the moratorium on nuclear generators that has been in place since 1985.

The parallels with the pursuit of nuclear by the Coalition are stark, except this move is coming from government.

Polling suggests just over half the Danish population backs building nuclear power.

Senior vice-president of business group Danish Industry Troels Ranis says the support is driven by young people “dedicated to solving the climate crisis”.

“The Danes, they want to have a climate friendly world, and they know that we need to power up our energy consumption even more and we need to be doing electrification, and this requires also a mix with nuclear power,” he said.

Australia’s shadow energy minister Dan Tehan, who visited nuclear sites in the US last year and continues to be open to the technology despite the role it played in the Coalition’s election loss, applauded the Danish government for leading when it came to nuclear energy.

“The Albanese Labor government should follow the lead of the Danish government and do exactly the same. They should lift the moratorium on nuclear energy and explore whether SMRs are a perfect fit for Australia,” he said.

“There is no doubt from my trip to the United States last year that SMRs will provide a much needed future energy source for many countries around the world. The fact that Australia won’t be part of this is a blight on the Albanese Labor government.”

While the Coalition’s policy under Peter Dutton suggested that building nuclear in Australia meant it wouldn’t need as much renewables, Mr Ranis and Mr Aagaard see nuclear as complementary to an increasing renewables rollout.

The country will continue to “run fast on deploying” renewables — nuclear or no nuclear — to meet its targets to cut emissions by 82 per cent by 2035, be at net zero by 2040, and 110 per cent emissions cuts by 2050.

Australia has a target to cut emissions by 62-70 per cent by 2035. The latest quarterly data released on Wednesday showed its emissions fell 1.9 per cent in the year to September, for an overall drop of 27.4 per cent from the baseline.

“There’s a lot more to do, but good progress,” Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said.

“The fact of the matter is that renewables are the cheapest form of energy, the most reliable form of energy and the lowest emissions form of energy.”

Despite the ban, there are two Danish companies developing the new small modular reactor (SMR) technology.

The country is looking for other like-minded partners — “I would be hesitant to buy it from China. I would definitely not buy it from Russia,” Mr Aagaard says, frankly — as trials go on for the nascent technology.

The minister acknowledges that SMRs don’t yet exist at commercial scale, but says there is a huge host of work to be done on the regulatory front if Denmark wants to have the possibility of seizing on any technological developments.

“Just lifting a ban and saying, now we don’t have a ban for nuclear … it’s not the answer that a potential investor will look for. That is just something that the politicians would do to say, well, I embrace nuclear. I’ve lifted the ban. I’m pro-nuclear,” he said.

“But I strongly believe in humans, and I believe that humans can invent and develop something that is better in the future compared to what we have now.

“I don’t think we can say no, at least Europe cannot say no. And, frankly speaking, you should also consider if it’s a good alternative to your other options.”

Mr Ranis said the way forward should be clear.

“We need, in Europe, nuclear for the future. We need nuclear globally,” he said.

“And a ban on nuclear is a part of the past and not a part of the future.”

Katina Curtis travelled to Copenhagen as a guest of the Danish Foreign Ministry.