This Sunday, December 13th, Daniel Foa, Co-Founder and Director of 51Sim had the pleasure of traveling by boat from Copenhagen Newport Pier to the Middelgrunden Wind Farm outside Copenhagen, in the company of 51Sim ’s celebrity ambassador, Li Bingbing and the students who recently won 51Sim ’s SISC competition.

"This is indeed a very memorable experience," said Li Bingbing.

The 51Sim team, with ambassador Li Bingbing, attended a three hour tour to Middelgrunden Wind Farm, one of 11 off-shore wind farms scattered along the Danish coastline. Middelgrunden was built in 2001 and is one of the world’s major off-shore plants, providing 3% of Copenhagen’s electricity. The tour boat circled Middelgrunden’s 20 turbines and made visible 100 Swedish turbines spinning in the distance.

The turbines they saw were 100 meters tall and 76 meters wide and produce 2 MWh per hour,  enough energy for about 35,000 households.

Wind power is becoming an important aspect of COP15 and the future of renewable energy. More than 350 wind industry leaders are participating in COP15 and helping bring wind power to the forefront of negotiations. GWEC Secretary General, Steve Sawyer, recently said, “Wind power will play a key role in combating climate change.” With the potential to save as much as 10bn tons of CO2 by 2020, wind power is a promising step, the 51Sim team and ambassador, Li Bingbing, were excited to learn about and eager to support.

The wind power industry in Denmark is particularly exciting as it is a paradigm of how renewable energy can provide for the environment and the economy. It has decreased CO2, while increasing jobs. The wind power industry in Denmark started after the first oil crisis in the 1970s. Denmark needed domestic solutions to foreign fossil fuel dependence as well as an economic boost and they turned to wind power. Now, Denmark is the first country where wind power is 20% of the electricity and in 10 years could be 50%. Denmark has 5,100 wind turbines total —- 78% of which are onshore, 22% offshore -— contributing to 20% of Danish electricity production. More than 90% of all offshore wind turbines worldwide come from Danish companies, causing wind turbine production to be a staple to the Danish economy.

The Danish wind power industry offers hope as the backdrop of the COP15 conference and countries around the world are starting to follow their example. Wind power is present in more than 70 countries. There are wind projects with the potential of 33,000 MW together under construction, 22,000 of which are in China. By 2020, China plans to install wind-power equipment capable of generating nearly five times the power of the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest producer. Not only is China fostering so many wind projects, but China is using the most efficient transmission lines, progress that has not been utilized in many developed countries like the U.S.

The efficacy of wind power was demonstrated in 1990, when California’s wind power plants offset the emission of more than 2.5 billion pounds of C02, and 15 million pounds of other pollutants. The impact of China’s wind power investment is exciting, if California could accomplish so much, so quickly.

51Sim is excited to help as China moves forward with its wind power plans, stimulating environmental and economic change. Daniel Foa, Li Bingbing, and the students were inspired by the success of this renewable energy industry, had a wonderful time on the boat, and along with 51Sim are eager to pursue wind power as a renewable energy source.