About a fifth of the electricity produced annually in Denmark is generated by wind. Of this, just over a half can be used directly within national borders over the year. The rest must be exported (often at much reduced prices) to preserve the integrity of domestic grids.

The need to backup the variable supply of wind power with electricity from combined heat and power plants for internal use, and the necessity to export large surpluses of wind power, mean that domestic savings in carbon emissions are relatively small at the present time.

Investigations to develop novel power transmission and usage systems for the greater exploitation of wind power within Denmark are in hand, but public opposition and concerns about safety have temporarily halted the deployment of wind turbines on land.

Read Dr Mason’s article at Windpower in Denmark
(Copyright Country Guardian)