Wind Farm Tour by Corinna Taylor

As many of you may know, Denmark is the leading country when it comes to wind power technology. They have about 5,200 wind turbines! Imagine! And yet none of the citizens seem to complain about this, much like we would expect Canadians to. It is said that on a windy day, the wind turbines could meet all electricity requirements for all Danish households, even during the peak hours of 5 to 7pm. This is amazing!

Almost 75% of wind turbines within Europe are located in Germany, Spain, Great Britain, Portugal and Denmark. Of course, Denmark has a massive off coast wind farm called the Horns Rev 2. It contains 91 wind turbines, with an estimated annual production of 209 MW. The Horns Rev 1 has 80 turbines, with a total capacity of 160 MW. A few members of our delegation were lucky enough to book a tour to these turbines (Horns Rev 1), to get an up close and personal experience.

The boat ride took only 10 minutes, and then before we knew it we were right under a gigantic turbine. Pictures do not do it justice. It was huge!! And surprisingly quiet. On the boat, we were given sandwiches and drinks, just to complete the whole experience. It was a little cold out, but a great day nonetheless. Check out Ryan's video below.

On the bus ride back to the Bella Centre the host of the tour was explaining to us the company's success stories. This company aims at introducing other countries to wind power technology, and is very happy when someone follows by their example. Only a couple of years ago, a representative from Ontario was here to find out more about this wind farm. He promised the Danes that he would push to have wind power in his province, and sure enough, only a few months later, this proposal was adopted. The Danes within this company are very proud of this. And it made us look good for once during this trip, which we were very happy about.