Danish PM: Denmark "the place to be" for wind energy - But is it?

Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt today spoke at  the annual gathering of the European wind power subsidy beneficiaries - also known as the European Wind Energy Association’s Annual Event - in Copenhagen: 

“This is the place to be for renewable energy and green growth”, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Prime Minister of Denmark, said in Copenhagen this morning at the opening of the European Wind Energy Association’s Annual Event. 

Flashback January 2012:

With a goal to reduce its fixed costs by more than 1.1 billion kroner by the end of the year, Vestas (the world´s largest Wind turbine manufacturer) announced this morning that it is laying off 1,300 employees at its facilities in Denmark. An additional 1,000 employees will be cut worldwide

Vestas is closing a factory in the western Jutland town of Varde and trimming administrative services in Hammel, Varde, Lem, Ringkøbing and at the company’s headquarters in Aarhus.

The company blamed the layoffs on the global financial crisis and a sluggish market for wind turbines in the United States and said that support functions are being streamlined to adjust capacity to meet market demand.

--

Last year, Vestas laid off 3,000 workers worldwide after posting a 24 percent drop in the third quarter.

One wonders whether Mrs. Thorning-Schmidt - a social democrat - has asked the former Vestas employees whether they also think that Denmark "is the place to be for renewable energy and green growth"?

Or has she asked what ordinary Danish taxpayers think about her green boasting? Obviously not, since most Danes are well aware of these facts:

Denmark's economic growth is forecast to slow for the second consecutive year in 2012, the Economic Council said Thursday.
The economy is set to expand 1.1 percent next year, slower than the 1.3 percent growth estimated for 2011, the council said. The gross domestic product rose 1.7 percent in 2010.
The accumulated growth forecast for the period 2011-13 has been lowered by more than 2 percentage points, compared to the assessment in Danish Economy, spring 2011.
The public deficit is likely to rise to DKK 84.2 billion in 2012 from an estimated DKK 72.5 billion this year, the council assessed.
In an annual Banking System Outlook on Denmark, Moody's on Wednesday said the Danish banking system's outlook remains negative.