Wind meets record 47% of Denmark's power demand in 2019

The Danish wind industry closed a record year in terms of electricity production as wind met almost half of the country’s power consumption in 2019.

Wind farms covered 46.9% of Denmark’s electricity demand in the past year, which is an all-time high both in Denmark and in any other nation. This exceeded the previous record of 43.4% in 2017, industry association Wind Denmark said on Wednesday, pointing out that cost reductions and new offshore capacity were the major drivers.

Overall, Denmark’s wind parks produced 16 TWh of electricity in 2019, up from 13.9 TWh in 2018 and 14.8 TWh in 2017. Generation was largely boosted by Vattenfall’s 407-MW Horns Rev 3 offshore wind complex in the North Sea, which was commissioned in the summer.

While 2019 was considered "an average wind year” by Wind Denmark’s CEO Jan Hylleberg, the contribution of new offshore wind capacity is expected to help the country meet 50% of its electricity consumption with wind power during 2020 or by 2021. This will happen with the completion of the 600-MW Kriegers Flak offshore project, he added.

The average settlement price for wind power in 2019 amounted to DKK 0.265 (USD 0.0396/EUR 0.0355) per kWh, down from DKK 0.303/kWh in 2018. In spite of the decrease, the price was higher than in the 2014–2017 period, Wind Denmark said.

(DKK 1.0 = USD 0.149/EUR 0.134)

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