Denmark: Wind energy heads into the black

Increasing the amount of power Denmark obtains from wind energy could have major economic benefits, according to an Institute for Environmental Studies report.

Wind energy advocates have traditionally touted the environmental benefits of the renewable energy source, but the institute’s findings indicated that investments in wind energy give an economic surplus as well.
Denmark currently obtains about 20 percent of its energy from wind turbines. The institute’s new figures indicated that the nation could up that figure to 50 percent by investing about DKK 6 billion in new wind energy products, a move that would also provide environmental benefits worth 20 billion for Denmark and the other Nordic countries.

The hard figures supplemented environmentalists’ arguments for increasing wind energy, according to Rico Busk, the project leader for the institute’s study.

‘We’re just putting forth the numbers,’ said Busk. ‘But for the Nordic region as a whole, there is no doubt the figures add up.’

Busk added that the total benefit will be six times higher in the other Nordic countries when exports of wind energy are taken into consideration, and he believed wind energy’s competitiveness diminished the need for subsidies.

Bjarne Lundager, managing director of the Wind Energy Association, an industry trade group, warned against removing the subsidies too quickly, however.

Copenhagen Post