Denmark is the most southern of the Scandinavian countries, situated southwest of Sweden, south of Norway, and north of Germany. Jutland peninsula makes up approximately two-thirds of the country's area and the rest spans across the archipelago of more than 400 islands. The capital city of Copenhagen is located on the country's largest island Zealand.
Denmark is divided into five administrative regions which are further subdivided into 98 municipalities. Every administrative division is governed by directly elected councils every four years.
Country Overview | Year | Figure |
---|---|---|
Population | 2021 | 5,856,733 |
Country Area (km2) | 2021 | 42,920 |
GDP (billion USD) | 2021 | 397.1 |
GDP per capita (USD) | 2021 | 67,803 |
World Bank Income Group | 2021 | High Income |
World Bank Region | 2021 | Europe & Central Asia |
Water and Wastewater Structure
The water and wastewater sector in Denmark is highly decentralized and comprises approximately 2,600 water and wastewater companies which significantly differ in terms of size, ownership type, and organization.
Two types of ownership dominate: municipally owned and consumer-owned (private) water and wastewater companies. Around 300 utilities – all the municipally owned and larger consumer-owned – are covered and regulated by the Water Sector Act. In particular, the Act covers 226 drinking water companies and 109 wastewater companies. The rest of the companies are private companies that handle less than 200,000m3 of water annually and are therefore not covered by the Act.
Despite a large number of water companies in the country, municipally owned water companies account for almost 70% of total water production and 98% of total wastewater collection and treatment.
Authority | Level | Role |
---|---|---|
Ministry of Energy, Utilities, and Climate | National | Responsible for the legislation regarding economic regulation and organization of water supply companies, and consumer side of drinking water and wastewater services. |
Ministry of Environment | National | Responsible for legislation regarding the environment, the water supply and wastewater disposal |
The Nature Agency | National | Under the Ministry of Environment, it's responsible for drinking water quality. |
Danish Water Utility Regulatory Authority | National | A part of the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority (KFST), the Authority is responsible for the economic regulation of water and wastewater companies. |
Municipalities | National | Owners of water and wastewater utilities, responsible for the planning, administration and supervision of water providers and water infrastructure. |
The Danish Water Regulatory Authority is part of the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority (KFST). Since 2011, it regulates water companies that supply more than 200,000m3 of water per year, or are owned by municipalities. Economic regulation, done by the Authority implies the following tasks:
- Comparison of the companies’ efficiency (benchmarking)
- Determination of annual price caps on tariffs
- Supervision of water companies’ internal monitoring system
- Support to the companies in complying with the Water Sector Act
- Contribution to the development of water regulations and policies
All water and wastewater companies covered by the Danish Water Sector Act are subject to the “break-even” principle and are regulated based on their revenues, meaning how much they may charge their consumers.
The Danish Water Regulatory Authority sets annual price caps for each regulated water and wastewater company. However, municipalities are those that ultimately approve tariffs. The Regulator also monitors and enforces compliance with all relevant laws and regulations to water and wastewater provision.
Water and Wastewater Regulations
Legislation and Policies | Year | Description |
---|---|---|
Water Sector Act | 2009 | Regulates the financial framework for water and wastewater companies in the country. |
Water Supply Act | 2017 | Ensure the use and protection of water bodies taking into consideration their use for water supply. Establishes coordination and planning mechanisms |
Areas of Regulation
Areas | Danish Water Regulatory Authority |
---|---|
Tariff Calculation | No |
Tariff Approval | No |
Licensing Water and/or Wastewater Service Providers | No |
Business plans approvals | No |
Performance indicators monitoring | No |
Economic Data Collection | Yes |
Technical Data Collection | Yes |
Coming Soon
Utility | Date | Tariff |
---|---|---|
Copenhagen Water | January 2020 | Tariff |
Aarhusvand | January 2019 | Tariff |
A more complete list of tariffs can be found at IBNET Tariff Database - Denmark