Forty Years of Wind Energy Development - Wind Power for the World: The Rise of Modern Wind Energy - page 23

this issue, the EC issued a study which was carried out by Bob
Harrison, Erich Hau and my colleague Herman Snel. The report
“Large Wind Turbines” [2], published as a topic by Wiley, showed

that there was no strict physical limit to the maximum size of
wind turbines, provided flexible elements and materials with a
higher strength-to-weight ratio are being applied.

Table 2.1 First European large wind turbine development and testing

programs

Rotor
diameter
[m]

Rated
power
[MW]

Year of
first
rotation

Commercial
follow-up Wind turbine (Country)

European Program WEGA I

Tjaereborg (Esbjerg, DK) 61 2 1989 No

Richborough (UK) 55 1 1989 No

AWEC-60 (Cabo Villano, E)
(Fig. 2.6)

60 1.2 1989 No

European Program WEGA II

Bonus (Esbjerg, DK) 54 1 1996 Yes

ENERCON E-66 (D) 66 1.5 1996 Yes

Nordic (S) 53 1 1996 No

Vestas V63 63 1.5 1996 Yes

WEG MS4 41 0.6 1996 No

European Demonstration Program THERMIE

Aeolus II (D and S) 80 3 1993 No

Monoptoros 56 0.64 1990 No

NEWECS 45 (Stork, NL)
(Fig. 2.7)

45 1 1991 No

WKA-60 (MAN, Helgoland, D) 60 1 1989 No

NEG-MICON (DK) 60 1.5 1995 Yes

NedWind (NL) 53 1 1994 Yes