Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
environment, and moving toward greater sustainability. As a result, since 1980
there has been general consensus in Denmark that renewable technologies—and
especially wind energy—require special support to gain an advantage in the
market. Specifically, the Danish government has (1) conducted R and D in wind
turbine technologies since the 1970's; (2) provided investment subsidies for 30
percent of the installation cost of wind turbines until 1990; and (3) required that
electric power companies purchase wind energy from private producers at a fixed
price until 1999, when the obligation moved to electricity consumers paying for
all increased costs associated with wind power. In addition, the government
exempts wind generators from a carbon dioxide tax,[35] gives wind power
priority access to the electric power grid, and has established regulations for
building wind turbines.
In 2005, renewable energy accounted for approximately 28 percent of the
Danish electricity supply, including 19 percent from wind power—the highest
percentage in the world. Since 1980, more than 6,000 wind turbines have been
established in Denmark. From 2001 to 2003, a repowering program led to
approximately 1,500 smaller wind turbines being replaced by approximately 300
new and larger wind turbines, which together have tripled the capacity. At the end
of 2005, Denmark had 3,122 megawatts of installed wind power capacity—more
than the 2,631 megawatts of the installed capacity in Texas, the nation's leader in
wind power.
Denmark's long-term support of wind energy has fostered a thriving wind
turbine industry, with global sales increasing over the last decade from about 200
megawatts of capacity per year to more than 3,000 megawatts per year. Danish
wind turbine manufacturers accounted for about 40 percent of global sales in
2004, providing about 20,000 jobs domestically, or 4 percent of Danish industrial
production. In particular, Denmark is a world leader in offshore wind power
development. Denmark built the first offshore wind farm in 1991 and had eight
operating offshore wind farms by the end of 2005. Two additional offshore wind
farms are planned to supply electricity to 350,000 to 400,000 households, or about
4 percent of the total Danish electricity consumption.[36] As a result of its
experience, Denmark has gained extensive technical knowledge in how to
integrate wind power into the overall electricity system, how to combine wind
power with other sources of energy to maintain the electrical system's stability,
and how to develop offshore wind farms—including the logistics of transporting,
installing, and maintaining wind turbines at sea.
