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Denmark building electric car network with US firm

Israeli-American entrepreneur Shai Agassi, right, talks to Denmark's DONG Energy CEO Anders Eldrup, center, in Copenhagen on Thursday. PHOTO: AP

Denmark's DONG Energy A/S and a Silicon Valley-based startup firm said on Thursday they would install an electric car network in the Scandinavian nation with some 20,000 recharging stations.

The grid, which is set to be in place by 2011, will be operated by Project Better Place, an initiative by Israeli-American entrepreneur Shai Agassi, using excess power from DONG Energy's wind turbines.

A similar network is being built in Israel.

A fleet of battery-driven electrical vehicles will be introduced in Denmark after the recharging stations are built at parking lots and outside homes, Agassi said.

French car maker Renault will provide the vehicles and Japan's Nissan will make the lithium-ion batteries under a partnership with Project Better Place announced earlier this year. Agassi said other car makers and battery producers would join the project later.

The battery would allow a car to drive a maximum of 150km before recharging, he said, adding that he expected the network to expand to other European countries soon.

"We're in discussion with 30 countries -- Europe, America and Asian nations," he told The Associated Press after a news conference in Copenhagen.

When Israel's network was endorsed by the government there in January, supporters hailed it as a bold step in the battle against global warming and energy dependency, but skeptics warned that much could still go wrong along the way.

DONG Energy chief executive Anders Eldrup told reporters that the grid would run on excess energy that its wind turbines generate on windy days. Windmills make up around 20 percent of Denmark's electricity production.

"The extra energy we have, we can use in an intelligent way by putting it in batteries," Eldrup told reporters.

However, on days with no wind the grid would need to use energy from DONG's coal-fired plants, he said, adding that it would still be more environmentally friendly than having cars running on gasoline.
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