Danish Love Story Blown Off Course

09:00 - 16 January 2004
 
What does the experience of windfarms in other countries tell us about what
to expect here in the Westcountry? Neil Young looks at how the Danish dream
of 'green' wind power started to turn cloudy

It was the love story that ended not so much in tears as bitter-sweet
confusion. Denmark fell head over heels with wind power around 20 years ago
and now can go no further.

Back in the 1980s, this small country renowned for its progressive outlook,
looked set to become a beacon across the world for "green" energy. With
growing fears about global warming, the Danes were urged to embrace a future
that would harness the power of nature.

There were state subsidies galore as incentives to private companies and
small co-operatives to erect turbines. So much so that by the year 2000 the
landscape of Denmark was covered with more than 6,000 turbines of different
sizes delivering about 13 per cent of the country's electricity needs.

And then there were even more government subsidies as the availability of
appropriate land for more turbines came close to exhaustion. This time the
money was being offered to windfarm owners to dismantle older, smaller
turbines and replace them with larger machines.

Still, on the surface at least, the mood was of optimism. In 1999, Danish
turbine manufacturers had cornered about 50 per cent of the world market.
And in May 2001, one newspaper summed up a conference on energy supply with
the headline: "Wind power gilds Denmark". Now, around 20,000-25,000 Danes
work directly in the wind industry.

But there has been no fairytale ending to the story. The superficial
impressions of boundless success masked a public disquiet about the
financing and environmental impact of turbines. Many now feel that large
areas of the landscape have been destroyed.

In a country of 5.3 million people there were more than 600 representations
to the Environmental Complaints Board about wind turbines between 1998 and
2000. And the headlines which had once depicted a story of unparalleled
success were painting a less rosy picture: "Electricity users led by the
nose"; "Local politicians benefit from wind projects" and also "Turbine
swindle".

Danish environmental journalist Pauli Anderson says the situation had never
been as clear and bright as presented. He told the WMN: "The opinion used to
exist in Denmark that wind energy was the country's golden egg. But I think
there has always been resistance to turbines, especially from the people
living closest to them who complain about the noise and the effect on the
environment."

The changing mood was reflected by a steady shift in government policy. The
government now has started to pull the plug on subsidies, including plans
for three offshore windfarms. "Their thinking is that if these things are so
good then they should pay for themselves," said Mr Anderson.

It would be a mistake, though, to portray the Danish dream as turning sour.
But Denmark's success has brought its own unforeseen problems, not least the
fact that it now at times produces too much power. So at the height of wind
energy generation in winter it has to sell or give away electricity - which
cannot as yet be stored - to Sweden and Norway. And how environmentally
friendly is that?

Denmark's response has been to cut back on its wind energy production which
currently stands at an installation capacity of 2,500 megawatts. There are
also plans to scale back the use of conventional power stations which
operate in tandem with windfarms.

For some critics, this is evidence that "green" wind energy is an illusion.
Prof Niels Abilgaard, from the Institute of Energy Technology, has suggested
a simpler and far cheaper solution to achieve green energy targets. Turbines
may have saved the burning of some coal, but he estimated that in 2000 that
the same environmental effect could be achieved for a 20th of the cost by
donating radiator valves to countries such as Poland east of River Elbe.

Not so, says Jorgen Abilgaard (no relation), director of Econ, which act as
consultants on wind and renewable energy for the Danish government.
Nevertheless, he paints a mixed picture of the Danish wind power experience
and the lessons that Britain might learn from it.

"It can work if it's done very carefully and done right, but you have to be
aware of really sensitive areas of the environment or landscape. In the
north west of the area of Jutland (in Denmark) it's terrible. We have
destroyed that landscape."

Avoiding similar scenarios would be particularly difficult in such a densely
populated place as the UK, he said. He also criticised Denmark's huge
subsidies.

"A lot of the subsidies in the mid-90s were quite large and there were a lot
of turbines going up between 1993-98 because the prices for producing wind
power were good. There were a lot of farmers who jumped in, and that was not
wise from an environmental perspective," he said.

But public protest had been relatively small and there had not been a deluge
of complaints about noise and the health effects from living next to
turbines. Why so different from what is now starting to happen in Britain?

One factor has been the ownership of the turbines. In Britain, the primary
forces behind wind power are big companies. In Denmark, subsidies were made
available to small local groups of anything from 20 to 100 people, to own
and operate wind turbines and decide on its location.

But the trend now both in Denmark and across Europe is towards offshore
windfarms away from the population. Wind power has not been the panacea the
Danes envisaged.

As Mr Abilgaard explained: "It is not a long-term solution to any of the
problems of climate change, but it can be of some help in the medium term."

Meanwhile, their landscape has been changed beyond recognition, and even in
this country where they sometimes have more electricity than they can use,
they face a dilemma. Very few new turbines are being erected, the search is
on for alternatives - and the Danes are wondering whether their green dream
hasn't blown off course.

nyoung@westernmorningnews.co.uk