Counterpoint: Wind power works - by Sigurd Lauge Pedersen
Commenting on an earlier report in the National Post "the Myth of Danish windpower" Mr. Sigurd Lauge of the Danish Energy Agency responds: "Mr. Trebilcock claims that “Denmark … has yet to close a single fossil-fuel plant.” There is no citation for this claim, which is wise, in a sense, for the claim is wrong. Denmark has closed several coal and oil fired plants in the last 10 years. Mr. Trebilcock claims that wind power “requires 50% more coal generated electricity to cover wind power’s unpredictability.” Wrong again. One megawatt of wind power does not increase conventional power requirements — it saves 0.2-0.4 megawatts of conventional capacity. The high figure is for offshore wind power, the low figure for onshore wind power.Mr. Trebilcock claims that Denmark’s electricity generation costs are the highest in Europe without citation. Again he is wrong. The 2008 electricity price in Denmark to medium-sized industries is 7.85 eurocents/kWh, which is below the European average of 9 eurocents/kWh. Mr. Trebilcock may confuse electricity prices with electricity taxes. Danish taxes are high, yes, but this has nothing to do with wind power.
Denmark gets around 20% of its electricity from wind power. Is this a challenge? Absolutely. But it can be done."
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