An article in the New York Times (Jan 22, 2012) describes the power surges due to high winds in Denmark and the payment to other countries to take the energy generated.  Surges in wind and the consequent energy generated are part of the risks in alternate energy sources such as wind and the cost associated with Denmark’s plan to generate over 50 % of its energy from wind. Solutions include storing wind energy by pumping water uphill, building connections with other countries, better forecasting of wind patterns and using using the energy to extract hydrogen that can run fuel cells.  How should the overall cost of wind energy be evaluated, given the need to plan for variability of supply ? Will the Danish wind energy generation target effectively increase the cost of power in denmark overall, given these additional surge management costs ? Should industries that can absorb this power by scaling up usage rapidly be targeted by the Danish government to generate a competitive supply chain solution ?