Renewable energy in Denmark
| Renewable Energy in Denmark | |
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| Renewable Energy (RE) | |
| RE as % of Gross Final Energy Consumption. | 29.2% (2014) |
| Target for above. | 30.0% (2020) |
| Renewable Electricity | |
| Percentage of Electricity generated by RE. | 60.4% (2015) |
| RE generated / Total electricity generation. | 17,562 / 30,615 GWh (2014) |
| Record % RE covered electricity consumption | 138.7% (26/7/15 wind only) |
| Installed capacity (2014) | |
| Wind Power. | 4.9 GW |
| Bio Energy. | 1 GW (ex waste) |
| Solar Power. | 0.6 GW |
| Hydro Power. | <0.01 GW |
| Total | approx 6.5 GW |
| Country Notes | |
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Denmark is a world leading country in wind energy production and wind turbine production. In 2014 Denmark produced 57.4% of its net electricity generation from renewable energy sources. The Danish wind company Vestas Wind Systems A/S has expanded from its domestic base and by 2015 had a revenue of €8.423 billion, with more than 18,000 employees globally and manufacturing plants in Denmark, Germany, India, Italy, Romania, the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Australia, China, and the United States (see Vestas link above for sources). Wind power alone produced 42.7% of Denmark's electricity production in 2014 and is expected to increase its production by nearly 80% in the years to 2024.
Denmark has a target of producing 30% of all its energy needs from RE energy sources by 2020, a considerable increase from the 17% it attained in 2005. By 2014 this figure had already reached 29.2% and was the fifth highest amongst the EU-28 countries. The country has ambitious renewable energy goals for the future, including using renewable energy for 100% of its energy needs in all sectors including transport by 2050.
In the heating sector the country has long used and continues to develop district heating (DH) networks. Hot water or steam is produced centrally and then distributed through a network of insulated pipes to high population areas. Houses within a district heating area have heat exchangers installed instead of boilers for their heating and hot water requirements. The heat exchanger keeps the two water systems separate and means that heat can be adjusted as with a familiar domestic boiler. One simple but important innovation in the district heating network was the development of internally insulated pipes. The two pipes taking and receiving the return of water are placed inside a much larger pipe and insulating material is set so as to fill the figure eight shaped void between the two smaller and the large pipe. In 2013 district heating supplied over 60% of all households in Denmark with heating and hot water. The development of district heating technology has led Denmark to become a world leader in industrial pump and thermostat designs and its products are used in many industries worldwide.
Cogeneration is also widely used. This is a process that extracts the waste heat produced when generating electricity. Power stations designed to do this are known as Combined Heat and Power (CHP) stations. CHP stations in Denmark are often sized to provide the heat required for the local district heating system. Thus CHP stations produce both electricity for the grid and heat for district heating systems. Heat can be stored in large industrial hot water tanks for several days allowing electricity and heat supply to be provided time independently from each other. By 2013 the use of CHP stations had reduced the overall energy consumption in Denmark by 11%.
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Wikipedia