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utilities must engage, not least in the interest of their own
reputation. They have a moral duty to pursue other options than
nuclear power,” he said and was backed whole-heartedly by former
Prime Minister Hilmar Baunsgaard. But they were up against
powerful interests—the consumer-owned power utilities, the
directors of which more and more become the ones to decide the
direction. The power plants had become a state within the state.
Consequently, Ove Guldberg, spokesman on energy for the
Liberals, is able to interfere. “When big industry cannot make
windmills commercially viable, the power utilities should not
be burdened with such tasks. The consumers will be the ones to
foot the bill,” says Ove Guldberg who was supported by many
elected power utility representatives. And that is how it turned
out. Not until 20 years later, when Minister of Energy Svend Auken
definitively put an end to the building of coal-fired power stations,
the utilities have finally realised that it would be necessary to take
a greater part in the investment in wind power to avoid being
left hopelessly behind as future producers of electricity.
7.2
Big Business
The report from the Wind Energy Commission, appointed by the
Danish Academy for Technical Sciences (ATV), appears in July
1975. The report concludes that 5% of Denmark's electricity
consumption could be covered by 250 big windmills placed on the
Western coast of Jutland. The payback time would be 15 years. In
addition, wind power could become important for local production
of district heating. On farms and solitary houses it might be
possible to set up perhaps 200 000 wind turbines! The report also
mentions efects on the balance of payments, employment, foreign
dependence, consumption of resources, pollution and inflation.
The recommendation is that research and development in the wind
energy area should be continued.
Despite the report's pointing to interesting new big business
area for a potent group like F. L. Smidth & Co., it had its motives
to definitively stop the engagement in wind energy shortly after.
Danish big industry was not ready to enter the production of
renewable energy plants, which was not particularly logical, as
Denmark did not have capital interests of any significance in the
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