Networks of Wind Energy Enthusiasts and the Development of the “Danish Concept” - Wind Power for the World: The Rise of Modern Wind Energy - page 155

The “Smedemestermoellen”—Blacksmith's turbine—designed
by NIVE, was one of the first turbines to be certified by the new
test station, having been installed there in September of 1979.

Figure 5.26 Testing of 22 kW Smedemester (Blacksmith's) wind turbine

at Risø.

The same turbine was also used to publish the first set of
“standard measurements on windmills at the test station” that
would become the evolving Danish test standard throughout
the 1980s. Early operation of the test station identified some
design flaws such as varying stall behaviour of the NIVE blades or
overloading of the drive train by the Riisager windmills. In 1982,
the test station was then extended to accommodate a common set
of foundations for the new 55 kW series of turbines which were
fast coming to market. It was this very series of 55 kW Danish
turbines that would take the California wind market by storm in
the mid-1980s and thus establish Denmark as the top international
supplier of wind turbines, all based on the Danish Concept. Up
until the end of the decade, Risø

served as the single certifying
authority for wind turbine manufacturers in Denmark, which
allowed them to become established as “a centre of knowledge
directing itself to the wind turbine industry, public authorities, and
to users of the technology” (Petersen, 1989). This knowledge fed
back into the industry reinforcing the development of the technology
and the overall Danish mega-actor-network for wind energy
technology. The era of the “Danish Concept” involving a country-