Abstract
In the 1970s, the Netherlands and Denmark both initiated policies to stimulate the development of wind energy. However, the results of these policies are very different. In Denmark, a flourishing wind industry exists nowadays, whereas in the Netherlands only one wind turbine producer remains. Furthermore, the total wind turbine capacity installed in Denmark by 2001 (2,340 MW) was five times greater than in the Netherlands. This paper investigates the differences between the wind energy policies in the Netherlands and Denmark, in particular the learning processes: Do the different learning processes explain the difference in success between the wind energy policies?
The main conclusions are that, in the Netherlands ‘learning-by-searching’ (or R&D) was stimulated far more than in Denmark, whereas in Denmark ‘learning-by-using’ and ‘learning-by-interacting’ were far more important than in the Netherlands. The strong emphasis on learning-by-searching in the Netherlands resulted in a large amount of scientific research and a good international position of the Dutch wind energy researchers. However, the results of this research were little used by the Dutch wind turbine producers.
In Denmark, the domestic market was larger and better organised than in the Netherlands, because at an early stage in Denmark, subsidies for wind turbine purchasers were available. Many contacts existed between the turbine owners, the turbine producers and the wind energy research institute Risø. Due to these contacts, much information was exchanged, which enabled the wind turbine producers to improve their products. Furthermore, because of these good contacts, the reputation of wind energy within Danish society was better than in the Netherlands, which resulted in less difficulty regarding turbine siting. These differences are important reasons for the difference in success between the Dutch and the Danish wind energy policies.