Denmark has set a world record for wind-based power usage with 39.1 percent of country’s overall electricity consumption coming from wind generated energy.
In 2014 alone, the country has added over 100 new offshore wind turbines, making it possible to generate nearly 40 percent of its electricity needs from wind, according to a new report from Think Progress.
A decade ago, wind energy contributed only 18.8 percent of the overall electricity production in Denmark, but now in 2014 this figure has more than doubled.
In January 2014, power from wind made up 61.4 percent of the country’s electricity consumption.
“These are incredible figures and we still plan to put up more wind turbines. We are moving forward and we have more targets,” said Denmark’s Climate and Energy Minister Rasmus Helveg Petersen in an interview.
Denmark has found the key to stop global warming, pointed out Petersen.
The country has set a target of producing 50 percent of the overall energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020.
However, the escalating amount of wind energy can also make a negative impact on the society as higher levels of production means greater chances of falling down of prices.
Eventually, an unstable system will be created with a volatile energy market experiencing extensive price fluctuations, according to expert opinion.
Government will have to find alternate methods to redirect the wind energy like electrifying the transportation system and heating of houses.
According to the Danish Energy Association, wind energy accounts for only five percent of the nation’s total energy use. Electricity only makes up one tenth of Denmark’s total energy usage and the use of fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas still takes care of three fourths of Denmark’s total energy use.
2014 was another thriving year for Ireland also. Wind farm developers invested around €350m, achieving 222MW of new production capacity.
Around 188 wind farms are currently operational across the country, producing almost 2,200MW of electricity.
Sabeena Wahid
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