Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
A simplex chain drive made the connection to a generator of
the asynchronous type. Furthermore, there were some mechanisms
consisting of a weight placed on the blades and bars which were able
to connect the rotor to the yaw gear, and thus turn the windmill 90
degrees out of the wind and, consequently, safeguard it from over-
speeding. The aerodynamic part of the blades had an outer shell of
waterproof plywood. Evidently, the maker was a master carpenter.
Later on the shell was made from fibreglass.
Riisager also stood to his principles when he made the tower.
He preferred lattice towers and did not follow the fashion when
in the early 1980s the fast growing industry introduced elegant
tubular type towers, which made it possible to ascend safely on the
inside.
It is hard to say how things would have turned out for Riisager,
if the very first windmill had not been sold to a journalist of
Information
. Torgny Møller wrote enthusiastically about his fantastic
windmill, which provided power and heating for the family and
the Jutland office of the paper. Every month provided irrefutable
production records, which were really tangible evidence. It produced
more than 30 MW a year, seven times the power consumption of
an ordinary family.
As this miraculous windmill cost less than DKK 50 000 (EUR
6 700), it became evident to the readers of
, who were
not used to reading much of this kind, that wind power could liberate
the Danish people from the control of the power supply wielded
by the Arab oil Sheiks, something that was ruining the country's
finances and self-esteem.
That was not the only reason why Riisager came into focus, as
one of the good sons of the country. The state had launched a wind
power programme in conjunction with the power utilities. They
made flashy brochures for the Folketing (parliament) committee,
presenting the Nibe A and B wind turbines, developed by the leading
industrial companies of the country. And this was in contrast to the
alliance of Riisager, Møller and Fritzner, which in accordance to the
good old Jutlandish custom of including the blacksmiths, the local
entrepreneur and the electrician, had actually found the solution
to the country's future energy supply by paying out from their own
pockets. That was the kind of things that Danes liked to hear. It fitted
perfectly with their ingrained scepticism towards experts and big
capital.
Information
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