Danish wind energy sets new record in 2015

Wind power accounted for some 42 percent of Denmark's total electricity consumption in 2015, setting a new record proportion, according to official data released on Friday.

With 42.1 percent of domestic electricity consumption last year covered by wind energy, Denmark is well on its way towards the goal of having 50 percent of all electricity produced by wind power by 2020, figures from the state-owned electricity and gas transmission system operator Energinet.dk showed.

Although Denmark's power plants that burn coal or biomass still play an important role in supplying electricity, solar and wind energy production is continuously growing, according to Carsten Vittrup, a consultant at Energinet.dk.

In 1,460 of the year's 8,760 hours, western Denmark's part of the electricity system produced more wind energy than consumed, Vittrup told Danish news agency Ritzau.

He said the excess electricity produced by Danish wind turbines is traded across borders, while Denmark in turn buys hydropower from Norway, solar power from Germany, and nuclear power from Sweden.

In 2005, wind turbines in Denmark produced 18.7 percent of the total electricity consumption, and that number jumped to 39.1 percent in 2014. Endit