Denmark, the country where for one day everything ran on wind power alone. On 22 February, Danish wind energy generated enough power to cover 104 per cent of the country's electricity demand. According to WindEurope, over the course of the day, Denmark generated 70 gigawatt-hours of energy from onshore wind farms, plus a further 27 gigawatt-hours from offshore platforms. An amount of energy that would be sufficient to meet the average needs of ten million European homes.

Denmark, the queen of wind power

Thanks to its 5,227 megawatts of installed capacity, in 2016 Danish wind energy generated 37.6 per cent of the country's total electricity consumption. And that is despite last year not having been — meteorologically speaking — an extremely positive year for wind power, which was affected by weaker-than-usual winds. But, as they say, you can't always break records, especially after a particularly strong 2015, with several record-breaking days driven by winds 14 per cent above normal — something that had not occurred since 1994. Meanwhile, attention turns to 2017, which, if it keeps the promises shown on 22 February, looks set to be another year of impressive figures.

The changeable nature of wind

Jan Hylleberg, chief executive of the Danish Wind Industry Association, commented on what happened on 22 February by placing it within a journey that has seen Danish wind power grow stronger year after year. "Since 2008," he said, "we have seen continuous growth in wind energy production and every year we have set a new world record. As expected, this trend did not continue in 2016 due to weak winds. Not maintaining continuous growth is to some extent frustrating, but on the other hand, it reminds us of the changeable nature of wind."

A record-breaking offshore turbine

Buoyed by the results achieved in terms of economic wealth and job creation as well, wind energy development programmes in Denmark are continuing and setting ambitious targets. By 2021, the country expects to generate 60 per cent of its electricity consumption through wind, and to become independent of all fossil fuels within the next 40 years. These milestones will also be within reach thanks to continuous investment in technology, such as the offshore turbine launched by MHI Vestas offshore wind. On 1 December last, off the Danish coast, a new 9-megawatt offshore wind turbine was tested and smashed the previous generation records for commercially available offshore turbines. The new prototype produced 216,000 kilowatt-hours over the course of 24 hours. An innovative technology that will further boost wind energy production while driving down costs, since fewer turbines will be needed to meet the wind capacity of an offshore farm.

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