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European State Projects 1975 - 1995
(Danish Projects included)
Like in the United States, Federal spendings on Wind Power research, in most European Countries were given to major industrial firms like M.A.N., MBB (Messerschmidt-Bölkow-Blohm), Taylor Woodrow, British AeroSpace and VØLUND. The results from these projects were poor, and none of these companies followed the early results with a succesfull commercial Turbine production. A few Turbines though, had a technical standard that was close to, what we consider sound and safe now. But no one dared to invest in those big Turbines back then. The commercial infrastructure was absent. The new Wind Power Industry emerged from companies, that produced small Turbines and grew them bigger as they gained commercial and practical experience.
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The order, in which Turbines are listed below, does not necessarily indicate a chronological order.
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Project / Country |
Period |
GEDSER / Denmark |
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Configuration: |
Upwind |
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Rotor Dia. [m] |
24 |
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Rotor r.p.m. |
30 |
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Power [kW] |
200 |
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Power Regulation |
Stall |
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Blade Number |
3 |
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Blade Material |
Steel/Wood/ Alum. |
Steel Spar/Wood ribs/ Alu.skin |
Turbine was erected 1957 at Gedser, south of Sealand/Copenhagen, by SEAS, a utility company.
Engineer Johannes Juul of SEAS, who designed the turbine, was also the leading force behind the involvement of SEAS in Wind Power. Johannes Juul was employed by SEAS from January 1st 1926, at the age og 39, on the conditions that he was allowed to perform independent research in the fields that were possible at the SEAS company.
Before the Gedser machine, he designed and erected The 10 kW Vester Egesborg turbine in 1950 and later - in 1952 the 45 kW Bogø turbine. The final design configuration of the Bogø turbine was close to the Gedser design.
In 1975 Johannes Juul's Gedser turbine design became the starting point of the new Danish generation of Wind Turbines:
3 bladed Rotor :: Upwind Rotor :: Asynchronous Induction Generator directly coupled to the grid :: Stall control :: Tip Ailerons preventing overspeed |
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 NIBE A / Denmark
|
1979 - xx |
 |
Configuration: |
Upwind |
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Rotor Dia. [m] |
40 |
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Rotor r.p.m. |
34 |
|
Power [kW] |
630 |
|
Power Regulation |
Partial Pitch |
Stall / Outboard pitch |
Blade Number |
3 |
|
Blade Material |
Steel/ GRP |
- |
Inboard 8 m bladepart was not pitchable. Outboard 12 m bladepart had 4 discrete pitch positions. Normal operation was stall-controlled. Rotor supported by stays.
Innerpart blade had a steel spar with GRP blade skin. Outmost 12 m of the blades have filament wound GRP spar with GRP skin.
First blade set was cantilever fibreglass blades, made by the VØLUND Company (D-spar) and OL Boats (Blade Skin)
Later the turbine was equipped with laminated wood blades.
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NIBE B / Denmark
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|
 |
Configuration: |
Upwind |
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Rotor Dia. [m] |
40 |
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Rotor r.p.m. |
34 |
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Power [kW] |
630 |
|
Power Regulation |
Pitch |
Full pitch control |
Blade Number |
3 |
|
Blade Material |
Fibreglass |
Filament wound D-Spar |
First blade set was cantilever fibreglass blades, made by the VØLUND Company (D-spar) and OL Boats (Blade Skin)
Later the turbine was equipped with laminated wood blades. |
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Growian / Germany
|
1983 - 1987 |
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Configuration: |
Downwind |
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Rotor Dia. [m] |
100 |
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Rotor r.p.m. |
18.5 |
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Power [kW] |
3000 |
|
Power Regulation |
Pitch |
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Blade Number |
2 |
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Blade Material |
Steel/GRP |
Steel Spar / GRP Skin |
The Blades had welded steel spars and fibreglass skin.
The GROWIAN Turbine was built by MAN (Nacelle etc.) and MBB (Blades) North West of Hamburg (Cost : $ 55 million). It never completed the test programme, due to numerous severe design faults. Total operation time was 420 hours. The Turbine was demolished in 1987.
Like the Näsudden Turbine at Swedish Island of Gotland this early Goliath did not need a crane to get the nacelle and blades in position. A special rail system on the Tower was used to elevate the parts to their position. Just two hundred kilometers south of the Growian - at the same time - German Wind Veteran Aloys Wobben started the successful company ENERCON, still the biggest German Wind Turbine Manufacturer.
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LS 1 / United Kingdom |
198x |
 |
Configuration: |
Upwind |
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Rotor Dia. [m] |
60 |
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Rotor r.p.m. |
30 |
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Power [kW] |
3000 |
|
Power Regulation |
Pitch |
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Blade Number |
2 |
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Blade Material |
- |
- |
The project was decided by British Ministry of Energy in 1981.
The turbine was erected at Burgar Hill, Orkney Islands in the Atlantic north of Scotland. The turbine was constructed by Wind Energy Group (WEG) - a Group consisting of Taylor Woodrow Construction Ltd, British Aerospace, GEC and ERA.
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Näsudden I / Sweden
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|
 |
Configuration: |
Upwind |
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Rotor Dia. [m] |
75 |
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Rotor r.p.m. |
25 |
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Power [kW] |
2000 |
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Power Regulation |
Pitch |
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Blade Number |
2 |
|
Blade Material |
Steel/GRP |
- |
Blades had welded steel spar with Leading edge and trailing edge made of Glasfiber Reinforced Plastic.
The nacelle was fabricated by KAMEVA (Karlstads Mekaniska Verkstad of Kristinehamn ). The blades were fabricated by German ERNO GmbH (MBB. (Messerschmidt-Bölkow-Blohm)).
Later the turbine design was marketed as WTS 75-3 by a venture group of Boving KMW turbin AB and KVÆRNER GROUP of Norway. (Hydro Power Station manufacturers)
Still later Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm GmbH marketed the turbine as Aeolus WTS-75 |
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Maglarp / Sweden
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|
 |
Configuration: |
Downwind |
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Rotor Dia. [m] |
78 |
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Rotor r.p.m. |
25 |
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Power [kW] |
3000 |
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Power Regulation |
Pitch |
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Blade Number |
2 |
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Blade Material |
Fibreglass |
Filament wound |
Blades were fabricated by Hamilton Standard, USA.
Nacelle fabricated by Karlskronavarvet - (Swedish Shipyard)
Teetering hub. Steel tower.
Karlskronavarvet and Hamilton Standard also fabricated a sister turbine to this: The WTS 4 (4MW) - ordered by the US DOI. This was erected at Medicine Bow, Wyoming USA.
The Maglarp turbine was demolished in 1992.
The industrial venture group - Swedyards - tried to market the WTS 3 and WTS 4, as well as a smaller model named WTS 1200, on the international market. But had no luck.
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ELSAM 2 MW / Denmark
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|
 |
Configuration: |
Upwind |
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Rotor Dia. [m] |
61 |
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Rotor r.p.m. |
- |
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Power [kW] |
2000 |
|
Power Regulation |
Pitch |
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Blade Number |
3 |
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Blade Material |
Fibreglass |
Danish Wind Technology A/S |
Blade The 2MW ELSAM Test Turbine at Tjæreborg, was in operation from 1989. Tower was made in concrete. In 2001 the Turbine was demolished by explosion, and the location used for a modern Vestas V80 2 MW Turbine.
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Näsudden II / Sweden
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1993 - |
 |
Configuration: |
Upwind |
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Rotor Dia. [m] |
80 |
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Rotor r.p.m. |
14/21 |
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Power [kW] |
3000 |
|
Power Regulation |
Pitch |
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Blade Number |
2 |
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Blade Material |
Fibreglass |
- |
Name: WTS 80-3/1 (Prototype) was built by Kværner Turbin AB for Swedish State owned utility company Vattenfall.
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Gamma 60 / Italy
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1992 - |
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Configuration: |
Upwind |
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Rotor Dia. [m] |
60 |
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Rotor r.p.m. |
- |
|
Power [kW] |
1500 |
|
Power Regulation |
Active yaw! |
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Blade Number |
2 |
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Blade Material |
- |
- |
Installed at Alta Nurra, Sardinia by WEST S.p.A in 1992. |
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Medemblik / TheNederlands |
1985 - |
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Configuration: |
Upwind |
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Rotor Dia. [m] |
45 |
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Rotor r.p.m. |
- |
|
Power [kW] |
1000 |
|
Power Regulation |
Pitch |
|
Blade Number |
2 |
|
Blade Material |
- |
- |
Installed at Medemblik in 1985 by company NEWECS. |
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Aeolus II / Germany
|
1992 - |
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Configuration: |
Upwind |
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Rotor Dia. [m] |
75 |
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Rotor r.p.m. |
- |
|
Power [kW] |
3000 |
|
Power Regulation |
Pitch |
|
Blade Number |
2 |
|
Blade Material |
- |
- |
Installed by M.A.N. Technologie GmbH. Blade fabricated by Messerschmidt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) - Nacelle fabricated by Kværner Turbin AB of Sweden. |
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Nedwind 50 / Nederlands |
1991 - |
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Configuration: |
Upwind |
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Rotor Dia. [m] |
52.6 |
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Rotor r.p.m. |
24.6 |
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Power [kW] |
1000 |
|
Power Regulation |
Pitch |
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Blade Number |
2 |
|
Blade Material |
- |
- |
Fabricated and Installed at Spijk by Nedwind B.V.
4 generators of each 250 kW. |
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AWEC 60 / Spain |
1992 - |
 |
Configuration: |
Upwind |
|
Rotor Dia. [m] |
60 |
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Rotor r.p.m. |
- |
|
Power [kW] |
1200 |
|
Power Regulation |
Pitch |
|
Blade Number |
3 |
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Blade Material |
- |
- |
Fabricated and installed at Capo Villano in Galicia by Union Fenosa. |
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More Turbines from UK, The Nederlands, Italy, France and a few other countries will be added. |
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