Most of the Nordic countries have led by example to convert to renewable energy with Sweden and Denmark leading the way. Denmark has been particularly committed and has now been able to convert 42 percent of its grid to Wind energy in 2015. It is a 3 percent rise from 2014 which was also a world record at that time, and now it has managed to do it again. The Scandinavian country has set a target of achieving 50 percent energy based on Wind, and it seems that it will achieve the target ahead of schedule in a couple of years.
Even though they have increased the wind power generation, they haven’t decreased the overall power generation and rather increased it. There are producing so much clean energy right now that they are able to export it to neighboring Germany and Sweden. The total power generation is 140 percent of the total requirement of the country, and still the Danes want more. The additional power is no concern for them because they have a number of potential customers lined up for it.
One of the main problems of Wind Energy is that there are numerous times when there isn’t enough wind to power the huge wind farms in the country. So, when the shortfall occurs, Denmark does have backup biomass and coal systems. Even before using them, it inquires from its neighbors and purchases green renewable energy from anyone it can find. As a result, its dependence on renewables isn’t compromised.
But, it is also interesting to note that this increase in wind power generation is also attributed to the stronger winds experienced by the region last year. So, nature might not be that generous this year! Denmark has even pledged an ambitious 90 percent of renewable energy by 2030, and this was the highest pledge seen in the World Climate Summit last year. So, here is to a windy decade or else they will definitely fall short of the goal!
