Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 2.5
The evolution of the capacity of wind turbines since 1985.
In the left corner the emergence and decline of the govern-
ment-sponsored experimental large-scale wind turbines are
indicated.
The European Commission played a crucial role in the long
lasting success of the manufacturers by providing financial support
for new designs, for associated research and for building and
verifying prototypes and 0-series. With the support through the
WEGA and THERMIE programs manufacturers were able to build
up a track record, which was a necessary condition in order to
enter the market successfully. At this point in history the two
initially separated development lines merged into one. Upscaling
continues as a result of the demand for very large wind turbines,
which appear to be potentially more competitive for ofshore
applications.
I remember well that the start of the WEGA program was
preceded by fierce discussions between representatives of the
wind turbine manufacturers, scientists and EC officials about the
optimum turbine size and market potential. David Milborrow
published an article in which he showed that the optimum capacity
of a wind turbine was about 1 MW. If this was true it would have
placed a bomb under the EC's plan to launch a tender for the design
of large commercial (multi-MW) turbines. To shed more light on
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