By Indraneel Ghosh
Even as the US chooses to continue with the use of coal, countries around the globe are working to make a complete shift to renewable sources of energy. The preliminary data published by the DEA reported that Denmark has broken its own record of wind energy production in 2017. Denmark had generated 14,700 GWh of electricity over the year.
Beating its previous best of 42 percent (2015), wind energy supplied 43.6 percent of Denmark’s power demands. At this rate, Denmark can expect to meet 50 percent of its energy demands by the year 2020 and end its reliance on coal by 2030.
Governmental support
The Danish government has been promoting the development of technologies for harnessing the wind for quite some time now. To support the growth of this industry, the government subsidises the rates of wind energy to promote its usage. But with the current rate of progress, it won’t be very long before the industry can flourish without such subsidies. It would, in fact, be cheaper than the exhaustible resources.
Although the use of wind is a part of the global effort to reduce dependency on fossil fuel, it also addresses the country’s economic interests. This industry contributes significantly to the Danish GDP. The world’s biggest wind turbine maker, Vestas Wind Systems, is Danish. The government holds a controlling stake in Orsted, which is one of the biggest offshore wind farm operators.
Success built out of collective effort
To improve the technology that is being used, the country promotes research in the field for developing innovations. Danish companies invest EUR 600 million every year on energy research. But the study is not restricted only to companies in the country. National research centres and universities take part in the process. This has had a positive impact on the industry. The wind power production capacity has doubled in Denmark since 2001, despite the actual number of turbines dropping by 20 percent.
In March 2017, the country managed to source all its electricity requirements from wind power for 24 hours. One of the most recent innovations was the 9.5 MW generating windmill, which can power more than 8000 homes. To generate more electricity, fewer turbines are being used, which are larger in size and have a better efficiency. This helps in making the process cheap. Further, to prevent the wastage of energy, they have been working on the development of an efficient grid network system. By implementing it, they seek to ensure that the excess energy produced can meet other requirements.
The road ahead
Denmark’s success story makes wind energy a tempting alternative to coal for others. The countries who wish to switch to renewable sources have followed suit. Britain has also been using wind energy as a source to meet its energy requirements. It was able to generate double the amount of energy from wind as compared to that from coal. Sooner or later, as coal deposits deplete, countries will have to switch to renewable sources of energy. In wind energy, they have a cleaner alternative that can meet the requirements of a nation.
Featured Image Source: Visual Hunt
Stay updated with all the insights.
Navigate news, 1 email day.
Subscribe to Qrius
