Denmark Exports Extra Energy To 3 European Nations, Thanks To Windy Day On July 9

The 1960s hit song "Blowin' in the Wind" by Peter, Paul and Mary could as well be the new anthem of Denmark which had a 40 percent surplus of electricity on July 9. The excess power, the country exported to neighbours Germany, Norway and Sweden.

Denmark has the very windy day to thank for the excess power and its infrastructure, solar wind farms, which tapped the wind and converted it into electricity. The wind turbines, mostly onshore, supplied 39 percent of the country’s yearly electricity consumption in 2014, reports Quartz.

That’s up from 32.7 percent in 2013, boosted in 2014 because of the added installed capacity and improved efficiency of wind turbines. When the Anholt offshore wind farm was put into operation in the second half of 2013, it added 400 megawatts.

The wind turbines, spread in several locations, were not operating at full capacity on that day. The power generated by the wind farms, found in Jutland (3), Zealand (2), Bornholm and The Great Belt, provides electricity to 400,000 Danish households.

The trading of power is done through Nord Pool Spot, the Nordic power exchange. The power trade is actually two-way, according to Energinet, since Denmark also imports hydroelectric power from Norway, wind or solar power from Germany and coal, natural gas or nuclear power from Sweden. The imports happen when it is not windy in Denmark or when prices of other energy sources from the three countries are low.

Denmark’s example, which definitely can say that it found “the answer (my friend) … is blowin’ in the wind,” is proof that “a world powered 100% by renewable energy is no fantasy,” said European Wind Energy Association spokesman Oliver Joy.

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