Denmark sourced almost half its electricity consumption from wind power last year, setting a record in 2019 for its wind power production. The country received 47 percent of its electricity from wind last year, up 6 percent from 2018.
According to a published report online in The Hill, the increase is due in large part to reduced costs and improvements in offshore wind production technology, including the start-up of the Horns Rev 3 Offshore Wind Farm in the North Sea.
Offshore wind farms are constructed in bodies of water, most often in the ocean on a continental shelf. The turbines are able to harvest the winds blowing over the water, which often blow at a faster speed than they do over land producing more energy.
The numbers are based on preliminary data released by Energinet, the Danish national transmission system operator for the country’s electricity and natural gas.
According to an article published online by Reuters, European countries are global leaders in wind power, but Denmark is far out in front. Last year, it produced almost double that of the second highest producer — Ireland, which sourced 28 percent of its power from wind.
Overall, wind power accounted for 14 percent of the electricity produced by Europe in 2019.
Offshore wind generated power currently accounts for less than 1 percent of the world’s electricity production, but the International Energy Agency predicts that will increase 15-fold over the next 20 years.
Denmark last year passed a law mandating the country produce all of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 while reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent over the same timeframe.