Influence of government policy on the promotion of wind power

This paper analyses the influence of government policy on the promotion of wind power in different countries in Europe with focus on the development in Denmark. It is concluded that government policy has had a decisive effect on wind power implementation in the first phase of the modern wind power development. The modern Danish wind energy project was initiated in the early 1970s and was supported by the Danish government from the mid-1970s. In spite of opposition from the Danish utilities the Danish wind energy programme was successful, mainly due to both the governmental and popular support. This development culminated by the end of the 1990s, when new policies were introduced in connection with liberalisation of the European energy market. At that time, wind power was covering around 14% of Danish electricity consumption increasing to about 19% in 2004. However, during the period from 2002 to 2005, the Danish national expansion of wind power has tended to stagnate due to a radical shift in policies for renewables after a change of the government in November 2001.