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Wind power in Denmark

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Offshore wind turbines near Copenhagen

Wind power in Denmark provided 18.5 % of the nation's electricity in 2005, a significantly higher proportion than in any other country.[1][2][3] Denmark was a pioneer in developing commercial wind power during the 1970s and today almost half of the wind turbines around the world are produced by Danish manufacturers such as Vestas.[4]

History

As concerns over global warming grew in the 1980s, Denmark found itself with a relatively high emissions rate per capita, primarily due to the coal-fired electrical power plants that had become the norm after the oil crises of the 1970s[5] Renewable energy became the natural choice for Denmark, decreasing both dependence on other countries for energy and global warming pollution. Denmark adopted a target of cutting carbon emissions by 22% from 1988 levels by 2005.[5] In 1988, two years after the Chernobyl disaster, the Danes passed a law forbidding the construction of nuclear power plants.[6] Eventhough Denmark made a lot of progress with renewable energy in the 1990s, Denmark has stagnated since the liberal Anders Fogh Rasmussen took office in 2001.

Wind resources

Denmark has relatively modest average wind speeds in the range of 4.9 to 5.6 metres per second measured at 10 m height. Onshore wind resources are highest in the Western part of the country, and on the Eastern islands with coastlines facing South or West. The country has very large offshore wind resources, and large areas of sea territory with a shallow water depth of 5 to 15 m, where siting is most feasible. These sites offer higher wind speeds, in the range of roughly 8.5 to 9 m/s at 50 m height.[7] There have been no major problems from wind variability, although there is a temporary problem resulting from the connection of a large bloc of wind power from offshore wind farms to a single point on a weak section of the transmission network.[8]

Denmark is connected by transmission line to other European countries and therefore it does not need to install additional peak-load plant to balance its wind power. Instead, it purchases additional power from its neighbours when necessary. With some strengthening of the grid, Denmark plans to increase wind's share even further.[9]

Capacities and production

In 2005, Denmark had installed wind capacity of 3,129 MW, which produced 23,810 TJ of energy. Wind power provided 18.2 % of the total gross electricity production, and 18.5 % of the electricity supply in Denmark.[1] In 2006, the installed capacity increased to 3,136 MW.[10]

Installed wind capacity share in the electricity supply in Denmark by year[1][10][11]
Year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Installed wind capacity (MW) 2,489 2,892 3,117 3,125 3,129 3,136
Wind power share in the electricity supply (%) 12.1 13.8 15.8 18.5 18.5 16.8 19.7

Wind turbine cooperatives

Main article: Wind turbine cooperative

To encourage investment in wind power, families were offered a tax exemption for generating their own electricity within their own or an adjoining commune.[12] While this could involve purchasing a turbine outright, more often families purchased shares in wind turbine cooperatives which in turn invested in community wind turbines. By 1996 there were around 2,100 such cooperatives in the country.[12] Opinion polls show that this direct involvement has helped the popularity of wind turbines, with some 86% of Danes supporting wind energy when compared with existing fuel sources.[4]

The role of wind turbine cooperatives is not limited to single turbines. The Middelgrunden offshore wind farm - with 20 turbines the world's largest offshore farm at the time it was built in 2000 - is 50% owned by the 10,000 investors in the Middelgrunden Wind Turbine Cooperative, and 50% by the municipal utility company.[13]

By 2001 over 100,000 families belonged to wind turbine cooperatives, which had installed 86% of all the wind turbines in Denmark.[14] By 2004 over 150,000 were either members or owned turbines, and about 5,500 turbines had been installed, although with greater private sector involvement the proportion owned by cooperatives had fallen to 75%.[4] The cooperative model has also spread to Germany and the Netherlands.

Wind turbine industry

A Vestas wind turbine

The Danish wind turbine industry is the world’s largest. Around 90% of the national output is exported, and Danish companies accounted for 38% of the world turbine market in 2003, when the industry employed some 20,000 people and had a turnover of around 3 billion euro.[4]

The development of wind power in Denmark has been characterized by a close collaboration between publicly financed research and industry in key areas such as research and development, certification, testing, and the preparation of standards.[2] For example, in the 1980s, a large number of small Danish companies were developing wind turbines to sell to California, and the Danish Risø laboratory provided test facilities and certification procedures. These resulted in reliable products and the rapid expansion of the Danish turbine manufacturing industry.[15]

Professor Bent Ole Mortensen compared and contrasted the development of wind power in Denmark with that of the United States in a recent Symposium in Houston that focused on economic and environmental barriers to wind power.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Danish Annual Energy Statistics" (XLS). Danish Energy Authority. December 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
  2. ^ a b "Wind energy: A visionary match". Risø National Laboratory. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
  3. ^ European wind companies grow in U.S.
  4. ^ a b c d The world's leader in Wind Power, Scaninavia.com, published 2004, accessed 2007-06-22
  5. ^ a b Soren Krohn (2002-02-22). "Wind Energy Policy in Denmark: Status 2002" (PDF). Danish Wind Industry Association. Retrieved 2007-09-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Caldicott, 2006, pp.168-169
  7. ^ Case Study: Wind energy in Denmark
  8. ^ Diesendorf, Mark (2007). Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy, UNSW Press, p. 121.
  9. ^ Diesendorf, Mark (2007). Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy, UNSW Press, pp. 121-122.
  10. ^ a b "Global Wind 2006 Report" (PDF). Global Wind Energy Council. 2006. p. 9. Retrieved 2007-09-08.
  11. ^ Danish Energy Authority - Windturbines - introduction and basic facts
  12. ^ a b Paul Gipe (1996). "Community-Owned Wind Development in Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands". Wind Works. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  13. ^ Hans Christian Sørensen, Lars Kjeld Hansen, Jens H. Mølgaard Larsen (2002). "Middelgrunden 40 MW offshore wind farm Denmark: Lessons Learned" (PDF). SPOK Consult. Retrieved 2007-06-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Jens H. Larsen, Copenhagen Environment and Energy Office (2001). "The world's largest off-shore windfarm, Middelgrunden 40 MW". Middelgrunden Wind Turbine Co-operative. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  15. ^ Boyle, 2004, p.414
  16. ^ Environmental & Energy Law & Policy Journal Symposium 2007

Bibliography

  • Boyle, Godfrey (2004). Renewable energy: Power for a sustainable future, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-926178-4
  • Caldicott, Helen (2006). Nuclear power is not the answer to global warming or anything else, Melbourne University Press, ISBN 0 522 85251 3
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