Skeptics of renewable energy resources have stood by the argument that hydro, wind, and solar power would not be able to meet the needs of whole communities or countries. These disbelievers were proven wrong this week during a test project by WindEurope in Denmark.
For one full day the country, Denmark, fully utilized wind energy to power their nation. With about 97 GWh of wind energy, the country was able to sustain 10 million residential homes. This achievement comes as great news for companies in the wind energy sector – free PR is always good, but it also speaks to the viability of wind as a major power generation source.
2016 proved to be a difficult year with sluggish growth and uncooperative environmental factors. Overall wind in 2016 was low, causing progress in the wind energy sector to stagnate during undesirable conditions. This slow movement was a huge disappointment after the continuous growth that the wind energy sector was able to showcase between 2008 and 2015.
The company behind this recent accomplishment, WindEurope, is focused and devoted to spreading a global initiative for the use of wind energy. The group of about 500 members has developed key connections with energy researchers, renewable resource advocates, wind turbine manufacturers, and global policy makers. These many connections are leveraged to make developments in the industry, specifically in the area of international policy. Their conferences and projects have displayed the resources and financial benefits of the use of wind energy. This project in Denmark is an example of one of WindEurope’s many similar projects.
Denmark is not the only country exploring the benefits of wind as a renewable resource. Just last year, Germany performed its own wind energy test project in 2016. The project also included solar energy production. Over the course of one weekend, the country was able to produce 87% of their power through the use of wind, solar, and hydro power sources. The benefits of this project were not only environmental, but also financial. Renewable power sources sent consumption costs into the negative range, meaning that customers were being negatively charged for their power usage. Germany has set a lofty goal of achieving 100 percent of its electricity from renewable energy resources and this project is one of many examples proving that the country could very well meet this goal in the near future. The Director of Communications for Agora Energiewende, Christoph Podewils, was quoted saying, “We have a greater share of renewable energy every year.” Podewils seems to be correct, with analysts reporting that Germany may be on track to produce 100 percent renewable energy by the year 2050. That is not the only goal that Germany can achieve over the next 30 years. Some analysts predict that Germany could eliminate all coal plants by 2040. To reach this goal, the country will have to begin coal plant removal next year, in 2018.
Renewable energy resources are making significant headway in these countries, with projects expected to increase substantially in the coming years. Reports show that 2017 has begun with a strong start for the wind energy sector and industry executives hope that this will continue throughout the rest of the year, to make up for the difficulties of 2016.
