HOFOR

About the Utility

HOFOR A/S, the Greater Copenhagen Utility, is a group of companies responsible for water supply and wastewater disposal in eight municipalities: Albertslund, Brøndby, Dragør, Herlev, Hvidovre, Copenhagen, Rødovre and Vallensbæk. Beyond water, it supplies district heating, district cooling and town gas, serving 1.1 million customers across the Copenhagen metropolitan area with approximately 1,600 employees. The 16 water and wastewater companies in its supply area share a board that includes consumer representatives elected every four years. In Copenhagen itself, HOFOR serves almost 667,000 residents. The Danish Water Regulatory Authority benchmarks the companies and sets annual revenue caps with efficiency requirements.

Water System

HOFOR supplies drinking water to around 1 million people across the metropolitan area without chlorine disinfection. Drinking water in Denmark comes entirely from groundwater, and HOFOR counts groundwater protection among its main sustainability focus areas. Distribution losses are well controlled: water loss was 6.48% in 2025, inside the 10% target and the national threshold above which utilities pay a penalty fee. The tighter constraint is headroom, with the supply buffer at 11% against a desired range of 20–30%. HOFOR cites the renovation of old water pipes to reduce wastage among the factors behind its new water prices.

Wastewater System

HOFOR is responsible for wastewater disposal across its eight municipalities and, in Copenhagen, for wastewater collection and stormwater handling, while treatment is carried out by BIOFOS, the greater Copenhagen wastewater company that HOFOR partially owns. In 2025 the wastewater business served 906,000 customers and conveyed 98.6% of wastewater to treatment plants. BIOFOS, Denmark’s largest wastewater utility, treats wastewater from 1.2 million inhabitants at its Lynetten, Avedøre and Damhusåen plants, where HOFOR began producing biogas from organic matter in 2013.

Investment & Priorities

HOFOR has kept investment high. Group investment in tangible fixed assets, reported for HOFOR Forsyning Holding P/S as a whole rather than for water alone, reached DKK 3,411 million in 2025, up from DKK 3,065 million in 2024. Spending in the water and wastewater companies is bounded by revenue caps that the Danish Water Regulatory Authority sets with efficiency requirements; its 2025–2026 decision for Hofor Vand København set an individual efficiency requirement of 0%.

Sustainability & Resilience

Climate adaptation is the defining resilience task, as torrential rain hits Copenhagen more frequently. After a particularly bad cloudburst in 2011, the City of Copenhagen and HOFOR agreed on a DKK 20 billion Cloudburst Management Plan with a 20-year timeframe. Procurement has begun for major works: in August 2026 HOFOR, Novafos and Frederiksberg Forsyning announced three prequalified international consortia to bid for the Svanemøllen Cloudburst Tunnel, described as Denmark’s largest. HOFOR’s other sustainability priorities are groundwater protection and CO2-neutral energy supply.

Key Challenges

1. Rebuilding the supply buffer from 11% towards the desired 20–30% range.
2. Protecting groundwater, the source of Danish drinking water and one of HOFOR’s main sustainability focus areas.
3. Delivering the Cloudburst Management Plan, including the Svanemøllen Cloudburst Tunnel, as torrential rain becomes more frequent.
4. Maintaining water loss below the 10% ceiling while renewing old water pipes.
5. Financing a high investment level within regulator-set revenue caps and efficiency requirements.