Denmark to Destroy 1200 Hectares (2900 acres) of Forest For Wind Test Facility.

[NNadir]

Plans for a facility to test giant wind turbines up to 250 meters (820 ft) high have run into resistance from people living in the area of northwest Jutland where it would be established and from some environmental groups and opposition politicians.

"We have a very strong industry for wind turbines in Denmark, which has created tens of thousands of jobs in this sector in a market where international competition has increased," Rasmussen told a news conference.

Denmark is a world leader in wind energy, with roughly a fifth of its electricity output coming from wind parks on and off shore, after having built up the industry since the 1970s.

It is also home to the world's leading wind turbine manufacturer, Vestas, and headquarters for the main wind turbine operations of the world No. 9 manufacturer, Germany's Siemens, according to fresh 2009 rankings...

...The Danish government's draft proposal calls for a test area for seven 250-meter turbines to be created in the municipality of Thisted near the windy Danish west coast in a corridor about one kilometer wide and 4 km long (0.6 x 2.5 miles).

The local council supports the plan, which involves clearing about 1,200 hectares (2,965 acres) of forest that would be compensated for by conserving forest elsewhere.

The test center would be operated by the Technical University of Denmark, DTU, in close cooperation with industry.

The government's proposal next goes to parliament which could pass the legislation by the summer holidays.

TUSSLE OVER LOCATION

The idea of a wind turbine test center, which could begin operating in early 2012, has fairly wide support among parties in parliament, but disagreement remains over where to put it.

"We disagree with the government about the placement in the forest," said Claus Skovhus, spokesman for the Danish Society for Nature Conservation which has suggested alternative sites. "We hope that they would place the test center on farmland."

The wind industry and DTU said the site is well chosen.

"We are not talking about unspoiled nature, but nature that has been modified by man for many, many years and forests planted by man 100 years or so ago," said DTU Provost Knut Conradsen.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100406/tpl-environment-us-denmark-windpower-tes-b64c7e7.html">Denmark needs wind turbine test centre: Prime Minister


They, um, need a "test center?"

I was under the impression that the Vestas Wind, Oil and Gas company had this business, um, wired.

Is this, um, a dreaded subsidy?

I must have been mistaken, although it is true that the Vestas Wind, Oil and Gas company had all kinds of notes in its mid 2000's corporate reports about what a drag it was to try to honor 5 year warranties.

[joshcryer]

1. About 4.5 square miles. There has to be a better place to put it than a forest.

[NNadir]

2. Not really. I don't think there is a GOOD place to put it anywhere on earth.

Denmark is already a huge wind turbine experiment.

The results seem pretty clear. The outcome of that experiment convinces me, at least, that there is no good place to put wind farms.