Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
matter to grant DKK 50 million (EUR 6.5 million) to a state wind
power programme. But how should such a project be implemented?
Whereas abroad there was an aviation industry, with some of the
knowledge needed for wind turbine design; the Danish officials
responsible for the realisation of the state wind power program had
no obvious candidates from research and industry with relevant
knowledge and experience. The result mirrored this fact.
An obvious comparison falls between the state Nibe A and
B wind turbine program and the Tvind Schools' 2 MW windmill.
Both were conceived in the wake of the energy crisis. Of course,
Tvind did not possess any kind of expertise on wind power. They
knew how to drive a bus, build houses or run a school. And they
even planned to build a wind turbine three times the size of that
of the state project; they had not got much money; they lived in a
remote place in Western Jutland, far away from institutes and
experts; they had poor relations to big industry. So one would
think that all odds were against Tvind.
However, the Tvind people had one unique advantage, compared
to the researchers in the state program: they recognised that
they did not know anything about wind energy. An awareness of that
lent them strength to go out into the world, search out and involve
people with relevant expertise and experience and who wanted
to join the task of lifting the Tvind wind power project.
It is not politically correct to give Tvind credits of having
created important basis for the Danish windmill industry. Written
stories about the Tvind windmill tend to point out the fact that
Tvind received the same professional assistance from Denmark's
Technical University and Risø (Denmark's former atomic energy
test station). Also, often in the history of wind power, links are
skipped and touching stories are told about individuals, who
worked hard in the Tvind windmill team.
It is a fact that the industrial establishment did not believe in
any future for wind power. Therefore, the big 2 MW Tvind windmill
and its downscaled 18 kW version were of great technical and
symbolic importance for the development of wind power. The
Tvind people were innovative and courageous; they inspired
many others to work with wind power, which in a number of years
grew into a strong bottom-up movement.
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