IER admits responsibility for anti-wind power report

Titled ‘Wind Energy – The Case of Denmark’, the report came out in September last year and was attributed at the time to Danish right-wing think-tank the Centre for Political Studies (Cepos).

The report was released in Denmark to coincide with the inauguration on September 17 of the world's largest offshore wind station, the 209 MW Horns Rev II project.

In the US it was released with by the Hamlet-inspired headline, ‘Something Rotten?’ It purported to provide "evidence" that President Barack Obama's reference to Denmark's dependence on wind power for 20% of its electricity was false.

According to the Danish Wind Energy Association (DWIA), IER president Thomas J Pyle has admitted the lobby group was behind the report. In response, DWIA CEO Jan Hylleberg has written to Cepos chairman asking for an explanation as to its rationale behind lending its name to the report.

Hylleberg added: I don’t think it’s asking too much to ask why Cepos acted as they did. Is it a general opposition to the Danish wind industry or have Cepos just blindly acted as spokesman for the American oil lobby?