There are just a few places in the world which stand for important
milestones in the as yet young story of wind power utilisation.
Ulfborg on the West coast of Jutland is certainly one of them. The
Tvind windmilI went into operation there at the end of the 1970s.
Teachers, pupils, numerous helpers and a few engineers developed and built their own wind turbine at the Tvind Internationale
Skolecenter between 1976 and 1978 with much enthusiasm and
little money. With an output of one mégawatt and a rotor diameter of 54 métrés, the Tvindmolle was at the time by far the largest
wind turbine in the world. This self-made project was a foretaste
of the technological leaps which the wind industry was to show it
capable of in the years to follow.
The wind farm which began production in the summer of 1991
off the small Danish town of Vindeby, also had a claim to this
superlative. The eleven wind turbines from Bonus Energy with an
output of 450 kilowatts each, a rotor diameter of 35 métrés and
the stall control usual for the time, had been erected around 5
kilométrés from the Baltic island of Lolland - this makes Vindeby the world s first offshore wind farm, so-to-speak the mother
of ail offshore wind farms. Many might manage no more than a
weary smile today at the total output of less than five mégawatts.
One turbine alone from the latest génération of offshore wind
turbines has a significantly higher generator output. But back
in 1991, there were hardly any more powerful machines in serial
production than those of Bonus Energy.
The région surrounding the town of Tehachapi in California North
of Los Angeles experienced not a gold rush but the world s first
genuine wind power boom in the first half of the 1980s thanks to
support from US fiscal policy. At that time, hundreds of mainly
Danish windmills in the 15 and 30 kilowatt class were connected
to the grid in the windy passes around the town. Like a hoover,
California sucked up almost the entire production of wind turbines in those days.
After the US administration changed the tax laws, however, the
air went out of the wind rush in Tehachapi. As a resuit, the young
Danish turbine manufacturers slid into bankruptcy - apart from
Bonus Energy of whom more later.
In Germany, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Koog, North of Brunsbüttel, has
achieved a degree of famé in the wind sector. The world's largest
wind turbine, Growian, went into operation there, directly on the
North Sea, in the summer of 1983 with an output of 3 mégawatts.
This turbine which was gigantic for its time suffered from several
technical problems and only managed a few hundred hours of
operation before being shut down again in August 1987. While
Growian was waiting to be dismantled, Germany's largest wind
farm at the time, the Westkùste wind farm, was commissioned
with 30 turbines in the direct vicinity.
178
milestones in the as yet young story of wind power utilisation.
Ulfborg on the West coast of Jutland is certainly one of them. The
Tvind windmilI went into operation there at the end of the 1970s.
Teachers, pupils, numerous helpers and a few engineers developed and built their own wind turbine at the Tvind Internationale
Skolecenter between 1976 and 1978 with much enthusiasm and
little money. With an output of one mégawatt and a rotor diameter of 54 métrés, the Tvindmolle was at the time by far the largest
wind turbine in the world. This self-made project was a foretaste
of the technological leaps which the wind industry was to show it
capable of in the years to follow.
The wind farm which began production in the summer of 1991
off the small Danish town of Vindeby, also had a claim to this
superlative. The eleven wind turbines from Bonus Energy with an
output of 450 kilowatts each, a rotor diameter of 35 métrés and
the stall control usual for the time, had been erected around 5
kilométrés from the Baltic island of Lolland - this makes Vindeby the world s first offshore wind farm, so-to-speak the mother
of ail offshore wind farms. Many might manage no more than a
weary smile today at the total output of less than five mégawatts.
One turbine alone from the latest génération of offshore wind
turbines has a significantly higher generator output. But back
in 1991, there were hardly any more powerful machines in serial
production than those of Bonus Energy.
The région surrounding the town of Tehachapi in California North
of Los Angeles experienced not a gold rush but the world s first
genuine wind power boom in the first half of the 1980s thanks to
support from US fiscal policy. At that time, hundreds of mainly
Danish windmills in the 15 and 30 kilowatt class were connected
to the grid in the windy passes around the town. Like a hoover,
California sucked up almost the entire production of wind turbines in those days.
After the US administration changed the tax laws, however, the
air went out of the wind rush in Tehachapi. As a resuit, the young
Danish turbine manufacturers slid into bankruptcy - apart from
Bonus Energy of whom more later.
In Germany, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Koog, North of Brunsbüttel, has
achieved a degree of famé in the wind sector. The world's largest
wind turbine, Growian, went into operation there, directly on the
North Sea, in the summer of 1983 with an output of 3 mégawatts.
This turbine which was gigantic for its time suffered from several
technical problems and only managed a few hundred hours of
operation before being shut down again in August 1987. While
Growian was waiting to be dismantled, Germany's largest wind
farm at the time, the Westkùste wind farm, was commissioned
with 30 turbines in the direct vicinity.
178