Record High Danish Wind Power Output in December 2013
Several media have reported that the Danish wind energy output reached a record high level in December 2013 covering 54.8% of the gross consumption. On the 21st December the wind energy production exceeded the entire Danish electricity consumption.
This note is based on data which has been downloaded from Energinet.dk.
This chart confirms that electricity demand and wind power have very different profiles. It also demonstrates that Denmark has left the balancing work to the international electricity markets.
There is nothing wrong in purchasing balancing services abroad, but it is important to identify the cost and to consider national alternatives.
The resulting exchange per hour with neighbouring countries is shown as "Net export". It is mainly a result of the wind power variability. In the first part of the month also influence from daily load variations can be identified.
As a response to the CEPOS-report the Danish academic establishment claimed 5 years ago that there is no causal connection between wind power and Danish export of electricity. I think that the chart above indicates a very direct co-variation.
Danish electricity spot prices are strongly connected to the Nordpool spot price and to the German EEX-price. The EEX-prices in December 2013 reflect both periods with power shortage and volatility due to wind power variations.
The two parts of Denmark have identical spot prices most of the hours due to the Storebælt link. When this link is congested the two parts may in some cases split up with the German price on one side and the Nordic price on the other side. Negative spot prices occur in Germany and Denmark on the 22nd and the 24th December.
The local spot prices can be used for calculating the average values for the different profiles:
Previously I found only insignificant differences between these values. It seemed to be a myth that Danish wind energy was exported for next to nothing. Now this view cannot be completely rejected.
There are two important sources for the revenue from wind turbines: the electricity market and PSO (public service obligations paid by electricity consumers). According to the table above the market has paid € 25.44 per MWh. The following chart from Energinet.dk's annual report 2012 specifies the PSO support for wind power in 2012:
Based on this chart the public support for wind energy in 2012 can be estimated at 1,800 million DKK or about € 24 per MWh. If the support in 2013 has been at the same level the total payment for wind energy in December 2013 was about € 50 per MWh. The export was 604 GWh or 41% of the wind energy production. In my view this export was caused by wind power. The direct loss in December 2013 has been about € 27 per MWh export.
These values are rough estimates and may be wrong. Hopefully a PSO specification for 2013 will be available for the preparation of my Statistical Survey 2013.
In spite of the high share of wind energy on the 21st December a considerable thermal production was necessary for stabilizing the grid and for the supply of heat for the district heating systems::
