Where is Samso? It’s a small island of just over 4000 people off the coast of Denmark (9 miles off the Jutland peninsula) which used to have potatoes as it’s main export. These days it is wind-generated p0wer. It’s a remarkable story. It also has a remarkable history:
It witnessed a battle in Viking times between, on the one side, Swedish champion Hjalmar and his friend Orvar-Odd versus, on the other side, the twelve sons of the Swedish beserker Arngrim. The twelve were bested and the pile of their corpses became a haunted spot on the island.
In more modern times, 1997, Samsø won a government competition to become a model renewable energy community. Now 100% of its electricity comes from wind power. The potato farmers own 9 of the 11 onshore wind turbines and went from producing 11 tonnes of carbon per person per year to 4.4.
The island now heats 60 percent of its homes with three district heating plants running on straw, and one which runs on a combination of wood chips and solar panels. Eleven onshore wind turbines provide 11 megawatts of power,(29,000 MWh per year) which is enough for everyone. The 10 offshore wind turbines produce 23 megawatts, enough to compensate for the carbon dioxide emissions generated by the island’s transport sector. This was all supposed to be achieved in a decade… and yet was all completed in only 8.
It wasn’t all plain sailing- at first, it wasn’t easy convincing this conservative island of farmers that they could, or even should, become a renewable energy showcase. NIMBYism, especially in regards to the proposed onshore wind farm, looked like it might scupper the plan, but Soren Hermansen, a local farmer and environmental studies teacher, spent months going to community meetings and making the case for wind power. The secret was to get people to own the turbines themselves.
By owning the turbines themselves, people didn’t feel as if the technology was imposed on them, but that they were making a smart business choice. They also came to realize the benefits that the green development would bring to the island as far as new jobs, new businesses, and increased business from more visitors. The island’s tourism website now includes a major section on Samsø as a renewable energy island showcase- and many schools visit the island to see for themselves the world’s greenest island, and it hosts countless events and conferences related to renewable energy.
Hermansen has been named one of the influential magazine TIME’s Heroes of the Environment, and travels around the world telling the story of Samsø’s success. Unsurprisingly he sees community communication and involvement as key. Win hearts and then minds.
