WWEA calls on Denmark to continue its successful support for small wind

Bonn , 30 November 2012. Internationally, the Danish net metering scheme is seen as a very effective and non-bureaucratic tariff scheme which is based on fostering self-supply from small wind. In case that the owner of the small wind turbine does not consume the electricity at the moment of its generation, the electricity is fed into the public grid and the household's electricity net meter turns backwards. In light of Danish electricity prices for consumers of up to 0,30 € per kWh, which includes approximately 65% taxes and VAT, this scheme has worked very well in Denmark and encouraged new investment in local generation.
 
In WWEA’s viewpoint, the current scheme has made Denmark one of the leading countries in small wind power and an astonishing and promising new small wind energy industry has emerged in the country using efficient and reliable new technology. The Danish achievements in this field was presented at the World Summit for Small Wind held by WWEA in Husum both in the years 2011 and 2012. However, in spite of this success, the Danish government has proposed to stop net metering.

In a letter to the Energy Committee of the Folketing, WWEA has applauded Denmark for its achievement and in particular for setting up the successful net metering scheme not long ago, and WWEA has recommended Denmark not to suspend it but to keep it, and to keep it simple. WWEA has expressed concerns about recent plans discussed by the Danish Parliament to change fundamentally the current rules and to abolish net metering or make it much more complicated and practically not feasible any more that may result in stagnation or even decline in a renewable energy industry with a strong growth potential.  Besides of interest as individual supply in the industrialized countries, small wind power, when mass produced, will find a very big demand in unserved areas in the developing countries where more than one billion people are without access to electricity.

WWEA President Prof. He Dexin: "We sincerely hope that the Danish Parliament and Government do not put on risk the existence of the emerging small wind sector but continue their internationally highly admired support for small wind turbines."

Background information:
Currently, the world market for small wind turbines represents an annual turnover of around 200 million €. By the end of 2010, 700’000 small wind turbines with a total capacity of around 440 MW were installed around the world (WWEA: 2012 Small Wind World Report;

http://wwindea.org/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=348&Itemid=40

 WWEA expects future annual growth rates of around 30 % for the next years to come, so that by the year 2020, the world market for small wind turbines can reach a size of 1 billion €. The leading small wind market today are, next to Denmark, China, USA, United Kingdom, Germany and Italy – and soon many developing countries are expected to become huge markets, mainly for rural electrification.

Worldwide, more than 330 companies are manufacturing small wind turbines. Thanks to the net-metering scheme, Denmark has been able to become, like previously in large wind, also one of the world’s leaders in small wind, boosting a new industrial sector which is seen as an example in many other countries.


4th World Summit for Small Wind WSSW2013
"Small Wind Certification - Status, Barriers, Prospects"
Husum, Germany, 21 & 22 March 2013

The World Summit for Small Wind is an annual opportunity to discuss the most important issues affecting the small-scale wind industry and to present news from a variety of countries. It is a meeting place for experts, policy makers, interested individuals, providers, manufacturers and supply industries from the small-scale wind turbine sector from all over the world. Abstracts to be presented at the summit can still be submitted until 15 December 2012.
More information on

http://wwindea.org/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=364&Itemid=40