ELECTRIFICATION EqUALS VALUE FROM WIND ENERGy 13 Why electrification is necessary for the Danish energy system Danish electricity generation will consist of at least 50% wind energy in 2020. This requires a focus on electrification and Denmark needs to address the challenge of smart energy Lars Aagaard, CEO, Danish Energy Association ELECTRIFICATION EQUALS VALUE FROM WIND ENERGY Danish electricity generation has undergone significant changes during the last two decades and Denmark is on the cutting edge when it comes to integrating wind energy into the electricity system. Wind is a positive story already 20 years ago the Danish electricity production consisted of 96% fossil fuels, which emitted 30 million tons of CO2. In 2013, these numbers had changed to 54% fossil fuels, resulting in a 55% decrease of the CO2-emissions. So far, the increasing wind share has not changed the continuity of supply. In 2013, Danish electricity consumers had electricity in their power outlets 99,997% of the time. The potential for electrification Even though we use most of the electricity from wind in households, industry, for electrical cars and in heat pumps in the heating sector, the transformation of the electricity system moves much faster than the electrification of the energy consumption. The electricity consumption is expected to grow by 3 TWh until 2020, while the new wind production is expected to grow by 6.5 TWh. Obviously, wind energy is a fluctuating production form. Given the rapid build-out it needs to be accompanied by further incentives to use and store the electricity when it is produced and a strong backbone of flexible power generation is also required. The curves in the figure illustrating development of electricity consumption and wind energy production 2014-2020 clearly show that the expected expansion of wind production exceeds the changes in electricity consumption. There is a clear mismatch between the growth of the two, which – given the flexible nature of wind energy – needs to be addressed, if we are to make the most value of our wind energy production. The Danish Energy Association has calculated the technical potential of electrifying the end consumption in the district heating sector, the individual heating sector and in the industry. The potential comes out at approximately 13 TWh/year, which is more than a third of the current Danish electricity consumption. In other words, there is a potential for utilising all new wind production in a flexible manner, creating more value for the Danish wind model. Combined with strong, available interconnectors to neighbouring countries, a backbone of power generation plants and a fast development in bringing down costs for electricity storage, we are confident that we can continue the wind expansion and use the fluctuating production in an intelligent way. In order for that to happen we need to see Danish legislators consider and decide upon difficult political issues such as securing continued back-up capacity from power plants, an intensified electrification of the Danish energy system and constraints on interconnectors. Denmark has led the way and will continue to do so by showing the world that it will be possible to introduce more than 50% wind energy into the electricity system. But we need to take the necessary measures to guarantee the continued balance of the electricity supply and to create maximum value of the wind’s changing production levels. Keywords for that to happen are interconnectors, flexible electricity use and reliable backup production when wind is absent. Development of electricity consumption and wind energy production 2014-2020 160 140 120 Index 2014 = 100 100 80 60 40 Electricity consumption (index) 20 0 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Wind energy production (index) Development of electricity consumption and wind energy production 2014-2020 Wind energy produced 3% of the electricity consumption in 1994. In 2014, this number had increased to 39.1% and by 2020 at least half of the electricity consumption will be delivered by wind turbines. The general electricity consumption is expected to grow at a much slower rate. Source: Danish Energy Agency
Share
Print
Download PDF file
Archive
Facebook
Linkedin
Twitter