CASE: THE WORLD’S MOST DEPICTED OFFSHORE WINDFARM IS 50% LOCALLy OWNED 19 THE WORLD’S MOST DEPICTED OFFSHORE WINDFARM IS 50% LOCALLY OWNED 8,700 citizens are co-owners of Denmark’s iconic offshore wind farm Middelgrunden, located just off the coast of the capital Copenhagen. Targeted information has played a key role in the local involvement and support for the wind turbines Erik Christiansen, Chairman of Middelgrunden Wind Turbine Cooperative Set in a symbolic curving line in the waters outside Copenhagen, Middelgrunden offshore wind farm stands as the image of Denmark’s world-renowned renewables sector. The 40 MW wind farm was at the time of commissioning in 2001 the world’s largest offshore wind farm. Today, it covers 3% of Copenhagen’s electricity consumption. A particularly innovative model of public ownership was used in the construction of Middelgrunden. To establish local acceptance for the wind farm, groups of local residents came together to form a customised cooperative: Middelgrunden Wind Turbine Cooperative. Through the cooperative, almost 8,700 local residents became co-owners of the wind farm and bought together 40,500 shares. In the end, this amounted to a local ownership of 50% of Middelgrunden offshore wind farm. The other 50% of the project is owned by the utility company DONG Energy. In the process, the key focus for Middelgrunden Wind Turbine Cooperative was on sharing information with the local residents due to the landmark position of the wind farm just outside the Copenhagen harbour. It was of great importance to involve the local citizens in all phases from planning and installation to the operational phase. This has proven to enhance the local involvement in the project, as well as the will to invest. Thousands of citizens in Copenhagen have visited the wind farm’s information stands and construction sites and thousands attended the opening of the wind farm in May 2001. The project has proven the necessity of local information to ensure local involvement and support for wind turbines. FACTS ON WIND COOPERATIVES IN DENMARK The cooperative movement has been part of the Danish story since the first consumer cooperative was created in 1866. Historically, the cooperatives have focused on the agricultural sector through for instance cooperative dairy and slaughterhouses but also cooperative cold stores were common in Denmark in the 1950s. The general ideas behind the cooperatives are that both profits and losses are shared between the members in relation to their company’s turnover, that the cooperative is open for new members and that it is one vote per member at meetings– regardless of the size and turnover of a member. The same ideas are present in the Danish legislation on new wind turbines, which state that at least 20% of the ownership of new turbines has to be offered to citizens as shares of approx. 1000 kWh (annual production). The exceptions include small turbines meant for private households, turbines erected solely for research, test and development and not least wind farms, which are put out to tender by the Danish state - primarily large projects of 400-600 MW. The practise of wind turbine cooperatives started in the 1980s and the following 10-15 years most turbines were erected by the cooperatives. The current law states that the option to purchase must firstly be offered to any citizen above the age of 18 living within 4.5 kilometres from the location of the turbines. Remaining shares are to be sold secondly to other citizens of the municipality in question. The idea behind wind turbines cooperatives and the option to purchase is to create a correlation between the benefits and joy and the inconvenience of living close to a wind turbine.
Share
Print
Download PDF file
Archive
Facebook
Linkedin
Twitter