Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
RES in general. However, before 1985 a number of other important
policy changes influencing wind power had taken place in
Denmark.
6.4
Test Station for Wind Turbines
In spite of the general scepticism towards wind power from official
Denmark, some important projects and support schemes were
initiated by the government in relation to wind power from the late
1970s.
In 1978, it was decided to establish a test station for wind
turbines at Risø National Laboratory and about a year later the
test station was appointed the official authority for certification of
wind turbines. This secured a high reliability of Danish turbines
exported the booming Californian market in the beginning of the
1980s—in contrast to many competitors from other countries. I
visited the Californian wind parks on a blowing day in 1983 and
noticed that half of the turbines were not spinning in spite of the
strong wind. The other half was of Danish origin with certification
from Risø (Meyer, 1983).
In 1979, the new Danish Ministry of Energy introduced an
economic subsidy covering 30% of the capital cost of new wind
turbines with certification from the test centre at Risø. This
subsidy was gradually phased out during the 1980s after a total
investment subsidy of about EUR 38 million, but it did promote
Danish wind power during a difficult economic period, partly related
to the collapse of the US market in the second half of the 1980s.
It is also worth mentioning that the concept of a
wind atlas
was
developed at Risø (Petersen
., 1981). This is now internationally
accepted as an important tool for the penetration of wind power.
et al
6.5
Official Danish Committees for Promotion
of Renewable Energy
The Danish Ministry of Industry had established a committee for
promotion of new technologies in the late 1970s. As a member of
this Technological Council, I proposed in 1980 to establish a
subgroup with focus on the Danish development of RES, and in 1982
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