is no surprise that Vindeby in Denmark ushered in the utilisation
of wind power at sea. In those days the small Scandinavian kingdom was the world's leading wind power nation. And what could
be more obvious in view of the long coastline with the North and
Baltic Seas, than to place a few wind turbines in the water. With
an investment volume in the low two-digit millions [converted
into euros], the managers of the two energy companies involved,
Elkraft and SEAS which no longer exists in this form, considered
the riskto be manageable.
The astonishing thing about Vindeby is that the eleven turbines
are still operating today and annual electricity production cornes
to around eleven million kilowatt hours. Even after more than 20
years, the end of Vindeby is still not in sight. "I expect that it won't
take long until the first of our customers will invite us to an anniversary celebrating 30 years of operation", said Henrik Stiesdal in
201A in answer to a guestion regarding the lifespan of the small
offshore wind farm. As one of the most important designers at
Bonus Energy, Stiesdal worked until the end of 201d as head developer for the German technology group, Siemens, after it took
over the company.