History of Danish Wind Power - Wind Power for the World: The Rise of Modern Wind Energy - page 86

government in the autumn of 2001. The new right wing government
abandoned more than 15 years of political consensus on Danish
energy policy. Public support for renewable energy development
and demonstration projects was reduced and the plans for three
more ofshore wind parks were cancelled. There would be no
more national energy plans and the development would rely on
the market forces alone. The consequences of these changes were
reflected in the development of Danish wind turbine capacity.
Until 2003, the growth from the 1990s continued, as the first two
big ofshore wind parks, that could not be cancelled, were
connected to the grid. During the following five years, the capacity
stagnated at a level of 3000 MW, corresponding to around
16% of the Danish electricity consumption in 2003. For the
wind turbine industry, the loss of the home market came at a
critical period with growing international competition. The
changes also had damaging efect on the Danish image as a “green
frontrunner”.

Figure 3.41 The curve on the graph shows the share of wind power in the

Danish electricity supply (scale to the right) and the columns
indicate the total installed capacity (scale to the left). During the
period 1995-2003, there was an average growth of more than
300 MW per year. After that followed five years of stagnation
(Annual statistics from 2010, The Danish Ministry of Climate
and Energy).

As the government continued after a general election in
November 2007, Connie Hedegaard, who had been Minister for