{"id":39308,"date":"2014-12-18T09:42:29","date_gmt":"2014-12-18T15:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=39308"},"modified":"2014-12-19T08:55:04","modified_gmt":"2014-12-19T14:55:04","slug":"how-denmark-and-texas-became-wind-energy-kings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2014\/12\/18\/how-denmark-and-texas-became-wind-energy-kings\/","title":{"rendered":"How Denmark and Texas Became Wind Energy Kings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-39308 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2014\/12\/18\/how-denmark-and-texas-became-wind-energy-kings\/to-match-feature-financialenvironment\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/35272005_H6386776-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-39324\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/35272005_H6386776-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/35272005_H6386776-32x32.jpg 32w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/35272005_H6386776-64x64.jpg 64w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/35272005_H6386776-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/35272005_H6386776-128x128.jpg 128w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/35272005_H6386776-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/35272005_H6386776-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-39324'>\n\t\t\t\tAn offshore wind farm is seen near the Danish island of Samso\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2014\/12\/18\/how-denmark-and-texas-became-wind-energy-kings\/fullsizerender_1\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender_1-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-39310\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender_1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender_1-32x32.jpg 32w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender_1-64x64.jpg 64w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender_1-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender_1-128x128.jpg 128w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender_1-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender_1-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-39310'>\n\t\t\t\tThree turbines sit just offshore at the Avedore Holm wind energy test site near Copenhagen, Denmark. The turbines are operated by  DONG Energy. \n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2014\/12\/18\/how-denmark-and-texas-became-wind-energy-kings\/the-royal-danish-yacht-sails-past-denmarks-biggest-offshore-wind-power-farm-near-the-island-of-anholt\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/35272005_H24168286-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-39325\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/35272005_H24168286-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/35272005_H24168286-32x32.jpg 32w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/35272005_H24168286-64x64.jpg 64w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/35272005_H24168286-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/35272005_H24168286-128x128.jpg 128w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/35272005_H24168286-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/35272005_H24168286-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-39325'>\n\t\t\t\tThe Royal Danish Yacht sails past Denmark&#8217;s biggest offshore wind power farm near the island of Anholt\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2014\/12\/18\/how-denmark-and-texas-became-wind-energy-kings\/fullsizerender\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-39321\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender-620x620.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender-32x32.jpg 32w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender-64x64.jpg 64w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender-128x128.jpg 128w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/12\/FullSizeRender-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-39321'>\n\t\t\t\tOne of the turbines at the DONG Energy Avedore Holm test facility, with a coal power plant that is converting to biomass energy in the background. \n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl>\n\t\t\t<br style='clear: both' \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>Standing on the shore of the Baltic sea a few miles outside of Copenhagen, Denmark, the view&#8217;s about what you&#8217;d expect. Rocky shore, grey horizon, a boat here or there. But this shore is special. Look up, and you&#8217;ll see &#8212; and hear &#8212; three giant offshore wind turbines cutting through the air. Each\u00a0stands 500 feet tall, with three blades (each close to 200 feet long), spinning non-stop.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The blades look quite thin, but don&#8217;t be cheated,&#8221; says Rune Birk Nielsen, with DONG Energy, which runs the turbines. &#8220;They each weigh about twenty tons. They are massive.&#8221; Each turbine has a capacity of 3.6 megawatts, or enough to power 3,000 Danish homes.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"font-size: 14px;\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/182105206&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false\" height=\"166\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Nielsen guides me through the small offshore wind park &#8212; well, technically it&#8217;s offshore. The turbines aren&#8217;t actually too far from land &#8212; each is connected to the shore by a short footbridge about ten yards long.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;For us, it&#8217;s kind of a demonstration park,&#8221; Nielsen says, &#8220;where we are able to test all sorts of things.&#8221;\u00a0With turbines close to shore, they&#8217;re easier to fiddle with or repair. The company can safely train their workers without sending them far out to sea, where most of the country&#8217;s offshore turbines are.<\/p>\n<p>Denmark is booming when it comes to wind energy. To understand how and why, you have to go back a few decades.<img decoding=\"async\" title=\"More...\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-includes\/js\/tinymce\/plugins\/wordpress\/img\/trans.gif\" \/><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The country&#8217;s energy transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewables wasn&#8217;t motivated so much by concerns over climate change or &#8220;being green.&#8221; It was something much more sudden: the oil shocks of the seventies.<\/p>\n<p>At that time, over 90 percent of the Denmark\u2019s oil was imported, and when the flow of oil was cut back, the nation suffered. The shocks\u00a0served as a wake-up call to Denmark: they needed to become more energy independent.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There was political interest in making sure we weren&#8217;t that dependent on fossil fuels,&#8221; says Birgitta Jacobsen, Deputy Director of the Danish Energy Agency. &#8220;And therefore wind \u2013 which was an abundant resource in Denmark \u2013 was interesting to look at.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Denmark did more than just look. They heavily incentivized and subsidized wind and upgraded their grid to make it more wind-friendly. Today, more than a third of the country&#8217;s energy comes from wind and within a few years, they expect more than half of their energy will. It&#8217;s a stark turnaround from just a few decades ago.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The government at that time wanted to shape the future,&#8221; says Peter Sehestedt, an advisor for the Danish Energy Agency. &#8220;They wanted to show the rest of the world what can be done.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>They started with turbines on land. But Denmark is a very small country, and some of the turbines met resistance from locals. So they went offshore.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8VYWAsdtJ2Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>When Denmark started building these turbines offshore in the early nineties, they encountered challenges. But they also found some advantages. Yes, it&#8217;s more expensive, and saltwater is corrosive. But the wind offshore is stronger, and more consistent. You can put in bigger turbines. And there&#8217;s plenty of room out at sea for a small country like Denmark, too.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If we just used about one percent of our sea territory, we could produce all of the electricity needed for Denmark,&#8221;\u00a0Sehestedt says. About a third of Denmark&#8217;s wind turbines are offshore, but that percentage is likely to grow. Worldwide, about 9 out of every ten turbines installed offshore are made in Denmark.<\/p>\n<p>Denmark is also helped by the fact that they&#8217;re tied into the grids of neighboring countries, which can help ease issues with the intermittency of wind energy. If the wind dies down a bit, they can ramp up hydropower in Scandinavia, for instance, to make up for it.<\/p>\n<p>So what would it take for Texas to follow Denmark&#8217;s lead? Well, it&#8217;s already well on the way. Texas has thousands of wind turbines, providing ten percent of the state&#8217;s energy every year. Everyone I talked to in Denmark was surprised to hear that Texas is sixth in the world for wind energy.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_30247\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-30247\" alt=\"Michael Webber of UT Austin.\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/08\/IMG_1508-300x168.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/08\/IMG_1508-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/08\/IMG_1508-620x348.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Photo by Terrence Henry\/StateImpact Texas<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Webber of UT Austin.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;A substantial, non-trivial fraction of the world&#8217;s wind [energy] is in Texas,&#8221; says\u00a0Michael Webber, Deputy Director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. That Lone Star wind boom was the product of several factors: generous federal and state incentives, strong political leadership and the right landscape: the state has plenty of flat, cheap land with good wind. (Most of the state&#8217;s turbines are\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/f\/f5\/USA_Texas_location_map.svg\/1050px-USA_Texas_location_map.svg.png\">in the Panhandle and West Texas<\/a>, but there is a significant number onshore along the Gulf Coast.)<\/p>\n<p>Right now, all of Texas&#8217;s turbines are on land, it&#8217;s simply cheaper that way. But one day, it may make sense to put some offshore, like they&#8217;ve done in Denmark. Texas has some of the best offshore wind potential in the world. You can get bigger turbines offshore, and they&#8217;d be closer to some of the state&#8217;s population centers like Houston.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The other thing that people forget about is the offshore industry is basically headquartered in Houston,&#8221; Webber says. &#8220;We&#8217;ve got a lot of patents, and companies and service technologies and ships. The capabilities to do offshore oil and gas that we could also use for offshore wind.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And the wind off the Gulf Coast still blows at the times when Texas most needs it \u2013 during hot, sunny summer afternoons as air conditioners go into overdrive.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When we run out of spots for onshore wind [in Texas], we&#8217;ll move to offshore,&#8221; Webber says.<\/p>\n<p>But turning to the Gulf for wind energy will likely take some time. A pilot project to install one test turbine there has faltered, and there don&#8217;t appear to be any other projects in the works.<\/p>\n<p>Onshore at least, Texas remains a leader in wind, and that story continues: there are\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eia.gov\/todayinenergy\/detail.cfm?id=19251\">dozens of projects\u00a0<\/a>that came on line this year or in the works for next year.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><em>This is the second in a three-part series on renewable energy and sustainability in Europe and its lessons for Texas.\u00a0<\/em><em>This series was made possible by a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/us.boell.org\/energy-climate-media-fellowships\">Energy &amp; Climate Media Fellowship<\/a>\u00a0with the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/us.boell.org\/tecn\">Heinrich B\u00f6ll\u00a0Foundation of North America<\/a>.<\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><em><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2014\/12\/17\/what-spain-can-teach-texas-about-solar-energy\/\">Part One: What Spain Can Texas About Solar Energy<\/a><br \/>\n<\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2014\/12\/19\/copenhagen-turns-to-two-wheels-and-takes-off\/\">Part Three: Copenhagen Turns to Two Wheels and Takes Off<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Standing on the shore of the Baltic sea a few miles outside of Copenhagen, Denmark, the view&#8217;s about what you&#8217;d expect. Rocky shore, grey horizon, a boat here or there. But this shore is special. Look up, and you&#8217;ll see &#8212; and hear &#8212; three giant offshore wind turbines cutting through the air. Each\u00a0stands 500 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57],"tags":[66,24],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39308"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39308"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39326,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39308\/revisions\/39326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}