Everything about Wind Power In Denmark totally explained
Wind power in Denmark provided 18.5 % of the nation's electricity in 2005, a significantly higher proportion than in any other country.
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.
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
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.
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. There have been no major problems from wind variability, although there's 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.
Denmark is connected by transmission line to other European countries and therefore it doesn't 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.
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.
|-
! 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
To encourage investment in wind power, families were offered a tax exemption for generating their own electricity within their own or an adjoining
commune. 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.
By 2001 over 100,000 families belonged to wind turbine cooperatives, which had installed 86% of all the wind turbines in Denmark. 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%.
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.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Wind Power In Denmark'.
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