Denmark to be "fossil-free" by 2050
The new Danish government under Helle Thorning-Schmidt plans to expand wind power to cover 50 percent of the country's power demand by 2020 – and that's not all.
Roughly a decade ago, Denmark – already a global leader in renewable electricity – came screeching to a halt with wind power when a conservative government came into office. Now, the conservatives have been voted out of office, and Jesper Filbo, a spokesperson for the Danish Climate and Energy Ministry, says that a slew of offshore and near-shore wind power projects will be realized. At present, however, there are no specific plans.
The Anholt wind farm with a capacity of 400 megawatts will probably start generating its first power at the end of 2012, thereby automatically increasing the share of wind power in the country's power supply considerably. Kriegers Flak, a joint project between Denmark, Sweden, and Germany, will also be connected to the grid between 2018 and 2020 with a capacity of 600 megawatts – and it will have its own offshore power grid for the first time. This project alone will increase Denmark's wind power production to around 42 percent of supply.
The country's ambitions do not seem unrealistic when we remember that it is already very close to reaching its goal of 31 percent green power by 2020. The statistics recently released by Denmark's Energy Agency for 2010 show that the country increased the share of renewable electricity from 20.1 percent in 2009 to 22.3 percent last year, with the greatest progress coming from wind power and biomass. And the new Danish Minister-President says that the country is to be completely "fossil-free" by 2050. Although the new government only took office on October 3, it has already published its targets for renewables and carbon emissions.
The previous government allowed residents to file suit against planned wind power projects, making the planning of onshore wind farms a risky venture in Denmark. Filbo says that there are currently no plans to throw out that legislation. Up to now, communities have determined where wind turbines are installed – not the government. And apparently, community input is to remain in place under the new government – at least for the time being. (Regine Krüger / Craig Morris)
