Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
on-land or ofshore wind turbines did not display a more negative attitude
toward wind power generation when compared to respondents who are not
living close to wind turbines.”
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In short, although there are indications
that some dissonance exists toward speciic wind power projects, claims
that opposition to wind power in Denmark have reached prohibitive levels
seem to be exaggerated.
hese ambitious ofshore wind power development targets indicate that
the government is aware of the economic eiciencies associated with larger
wind farms and that it sees the development of ofshore wind farms as repre-
senting the least contentious way to catalyze the development of larger wind
power projects. he government's large-scale ofshore development strategy
also makes perfect business sense because larger projects require greater
amounts of capital and incur higher levels of risk. his implies that investors
need to have higher levels of business savvy than the individuals, farmers,
cooperatives, and independent project developers that dominated onshore
wind power development in the early years of wind difusion in Denmark.
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his is not to say that achieving these ambitious targets will be easy. By
2020, well over 50% of the wind turbines that are currently in existence will
be in need of replacement.
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his suggests that a new round of onshore wind
system upgrades will be forthcoming and result in more visually invasive wind
systems being erected in communities. Combining new onshore develop-
ments with these mega-ofshore developments will result in a greater visual
presence of wind turbines in Denmark. Back in 1988, a wind power researcher
remarked that “wind farms as big as those found in California would never be
acceptable in the Danish landscape when we look at it from an aesthetic point
of view.”
148
It appears that this premise is about to be tested.
Technically and economically, there are already signs that wind power
production is occasionally exceeding power demands. his places increased
importance on the interconnections that Denmark has with neighboring
countries, because at present suicient electricity storage does not exist in
Denmark. Some critics charge that the generation of surplus wind power is
economically undesirable because spot purchase prices are never certain, and
historically, low spot prices have resulted in wind power being sold at a loss.
Amplifying contributions from wind power will inevitably increase the likeli-
hood of more instances of surplus power being generated—suggesting that
political support for wind power could face challenges by fossil fuel special
interest groups on economic grounds.
149
herefore, the evolution of a large-
scale EU market for green energy is a critical factor for supporting Danish
wind power targets.
It has been said that four factors have been instrumental to Denmark's
success in wind power: i) successful design and implementation of siting
