IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - May/June 2021 - 102

12 MW

300 m

9 MW

200 m

7 MW
4 MW

100 m

1.2 MW

1-12 kW

0.5 MW

19th Century

1990

1995

2 MW

2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

figure 8. Wind turbines throughout the decades. (Courtesy of Claus Nielsen, Aalborg University, Copenhagen, adapted
from Bloomberg NEF 2017; used with permission.)

to predefined REA criteria. Compensation for potential reduction in property
value due to wind farm proximity could
also be granted according to REA criteria. The REA -policy measures have been
adjusted and refined over the years.

eration at sea decreased drastically in
the following years. Thus, as onshore
(and near-shore) wind farm opposition
became the new normal, ambitions for
large-scale wind power generation moved
further offshore.

The Offshore Wind Power
Sector Matures

Conclusion

As onshore wind farms faced more frequent opposition, offshore wind turbine
technologies matured, and the offshore
wind power industry grew. Horns Rev
1 offshore wind farm was connected to
the grid in 2002 (80 wind turbines at
2 MW each). It was the largest offshore
wind farm at the time. In 2010, Anholt
offshore wind farm became the largest
offshore wind farm in the world (111
wind turbines at 3.6 MW each).
In continuation of the 2008 Energy
Agreement, the 2012-2020 broad political coalition Energy Agreement also
comprised multiple, ambitious low-carbon energy-transition goals, including
plans for a 450-MW offshore coastal
wind farm tender. The government
did not predict the level of social, political, and legal controversy that would
follow in the wake of these planned
wind farms close to the Danish coast.
However, the costs of wind power gen-

102

ieee power & energy magazine

This brief history of wind power in Denmark describes how the emergence and
the evolution of Danish wind energy
technologies were supported by a bottoms-up innovative drive, the cooperative culture and values, and by top-down
policy support. This shows how government policy ambitions for energy independence and energy diversification,
public antinuclear sentiments, and growing environmental awareness gradually
translated to the focus on, and support
for, locally available renewables, most
notably wind power. With the advent
of power-to-X technologies, and with
various large-scale energy infrastructure planning initiatives on the drawing
board, the future for wind power and the
wind power industry in the country of
Denmark looks promising.

For Further Reading
P. Flemming, Da Danmark fik Vinger:
Vindmøllehistorien 1978-2018, (Trans-

lation: When Denmark Got Wings: The
Wind Turbine History). Copenhagen,
Denmark: Narayana Press, 2018.
K. Sperling, F. Hvelplund, and B. V.
Mathiesen, " Evaluation of wind power
planning in Denmark-Towards an
integrated perspective, " Energy (Oxford), vol. 35, no. 12, pp. 5443-5454,
2010-2012. doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2010.
06.039.
F. Hvelplund, P. A. Ostergaard, and
N. I. Meyer, " Incentives and barriers
for wind power expansion and system
integration in Denmark, " Energy Policy, vol. 107, pp. 573-584, Aug. 2017.
doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.05.009.
N. I. Meyer, " Learning from wind
energy policy in the EU: Lessons from
Denmark, Sweden and Spain, " Environ.
Governance Policy, vol. 17, no. 5, pp. 347-
362, Sept./Oct. 2007. doi: 10.1002/eet.463.
" Energy policies of IEA countries:
Denmark 2017, " International Energy
Agency, Paris, France, 2017.
K. Johansen and P. Upham, " The
post-normal politics and science of
wind power planning: Evidence from
a Danish near-shore wind farm tender, " Energy Res. Social Sci., vol. 53,
pp. 182-193, July 2019. doi: 10.1016/j.
erss.2019.02.007.
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may/june 2021

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