Due to an unusually windy day, wind farms in Denmark managed to produce 140 per cent of the country's electricity needs.

 

By last Thursday evening, the Nordic nation's wind turbines were producing 116 per cent of Denmark's electricity needs, a figure that rose to 140 per cent in the early hours of the morning.

 

As reported by The Guardian, 80 per cent of the surplus power was shared between Germany and Norway, with Sweden taking the 20 per cent left over.

 

The figures were noticed by the paper on energinet.dk, a site which shows the power output of Denmark's wind farms in real-time.

 

Oliver Joy, spokesman for the European Wind Energy Association, said: "It shows that a world powered 100 per cent by renewable energy is no fantasy."

 

In contrast to the UK policy on onshore windfarms, which will cease to be subsidized by the Government next year, wind power has a strong backing from the Danish government.

 

While wind levels last Thursday were much higher than normal, it is estimated that Denmark could be producing half of its energy from renewable sources before 2020. The government aims to be producing 84 per cent of Denmark's electricity needs through wind power by 2035.

 

Wind power is already responsible for 29 per cent of the electricity generated there. While coal is still the main energy source in Denmark, the country is still one of the world leaders in renewable energy production.

 

 

PHOTO: Middelgrunden Windmill Farm, two miles from Copenhagen harbor in Denmark.