Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Development of the Danish Wind Turbine Industry
The early market for small wind turbines in Denmark developed like its counterpart in
the United States, along two lines: Stand-alone systems to heat water, and grid-connected
systems. But later, wind turbine development in Denmark took a different path that led to
success in the distributed-system market. Influential factors were
-
agricultural origin of turbine designs
-
the well-established type of manufacturer
-
the proximity of good sites to manufacturers
-
the compact geographical size of the market served
-
the development of a national certification program
Most Danish turbine designs grew out of the agricultural sector, and design development
was both publically and privately supported. Because of their agricultural roots, early Danish
turbine designs were simple, rugged, and used well-understood technology. The Danes paid
a price for their use of heavier construction methods in terms of higher initial costs, higher
transportation costs, and higher installation costs, but these penalties were offset by higher
reliability. Most of the firms entering the wind market were well-established, midsized com-
panies. Their ample size, coupled with their willingness to fund design development, enabled
Danish firms to build first-generation turbines that were fairly reliable in the low-turbulence
wind environment common in Denmark. Problems in the field and the cost of the solutions
were consequently low. Consistent government policies supporting the domestic market and
available financial resources for exports permitted leading Danish manufacturers of wind
turbines to survive into the mid-980s.
The distributed-turbine market in Denmark was aided by the close physical proxim-
ity of good sites to the machine manufacturers. For example, two of Denmark's largest
wind power stations, the privately owned 2.3-MW
Tændpibe
and the utility-owned 0-MW
Velling Mærsk
wind plants, are only a few kilometers from the
Vestas
factory where their
turbines were built. Close proximity of sites to manufacturing plants makes it much easier to
move quickly through design iterations. Because of the small geographic area of Denmark,
manufacturers were able to use in-house maintenance and repair teams to serve the entire
country. Marketing was also beneficially affected. Because of the homogeneity of the mar-
ket, the sales force of each manufacturer was able to call on customers directly, eliminating
the need for an intermediate, cumbersome distribution system that relies on dealers who often
have allegiance to more than one product.
Danish Approval and Certification System
Denmark was the first country to introduce design standards for wind turbines, and it
did so through a government certification program. To qualify for federal tax credits and
export loan guarantees, turbines have to be certified by the
Risø National Laboratory Station
for Wind Turbines
. Risø personnel are aware that wind turbine design is complex and that
manufacturers do not always fully understand the forces at work on the turbines. To address
this problem, they originally set what they believed to be conservative design criteria for
critical components. Later, Risø and the Danish industry learned that these criteria needed
to be even more conservative. The result was Risø's imposition of design disciplines on the
industry at an early stage. Although it may have delayed some creative new designs and
eliminated variety in turbine configurations, government certification plays an important role
in ensuring that Danish turbines performed reliably in the field.
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