For as early as 5,000 BC, there has been proof that people use wind energy in various applications. Between 500 to 900 BC, they used it to grind grain and pump water for utilities and irrigation around China, Persia, and the Middle East. This shows that even long before technology and modernization took place, the world was already recognizing the power of wind energy.
The First Windmills
By the 11th century, windmills and pumps used for food production were widespread in the Middle East and China. This simple yet fascinating machinery made some things possible and easier for the early civilizations. Eventually, the innovation was brought to Europe by crusaders and merchants traveling for trading and exploration.
Dutch land flooded due to their low-lying land below sea level. This is also why they are primarily associated with windmills today. The Dutch pioneered the development of wind pumps to drain marshes and lakes in the Rhine River Delta. After Europe, the immigrants brought this knowledge to the Western Hemisphere.
Americans started using windmills for the same applications: grinding grain, pumping water, and cutting wood on sawmills. Farmers and ranchers settled along the western United States and installed thousands of wind pumps. In the late 1800s to early 1900s, wind turbines, or small wind-electric power generators as we called them at the time, were widely used.
The number of wind pumps declined as electrification programs extended the power lines to ranches and farms around the country in the 1930s. However, some continued using wind turbines to pump water for their livestock that the utility lines could not support.
Today, small wind turbines are becoming common again, especially in rural and remote areas with less electricity. People also use it to decrease their monthly bills and supply power to mobile properties like RVs, propel boats, and power up off-grid houses.
Wind Power In The 19th Century: The Start Of Electricity Generation
Even though people used windmills for food production and resource cultivation, people also used them to generate electricity. One of the most significant advances in wind technology occurred in the second half of the 19th century with the emergence of American multi-blade windmills. This inspired the look of wind turbines as we know them today.
The Charles Brush Windmill
In 1887, the American scientist Charles F. Brush built the first wind turbine for electricity generation in Cleveland, Ohio. Considered perhaps the largest in the world, this giant electricity-generating wind turbine made out of cedarwood has 144 rotor blades and a rotor diameter of 70 meters.
Brush’s turbine charged batteries installed in his basement and operated for 20 years. At the time, it could only produce up to 12 kW of power despite its size, making it not nearly as efficient as modern turbines.
The Poul la Cour Wind Generator
Soon after, a Danish Scientist named Poul la Cour discovered that turbines with fewer rotor blades are more efficient energy production than those with multiple blades. It can also attain a faster rotation speed compared to the model built by Brush.
In 1899, he designed another windmill called the first modern wind generator. This design looks like a famous windmill that Cervantes recreated in his novel Don Quijote.
Wind Power in the early 20th Century
In 1908 alone, at least 72 wind power generators could produce around 5 kW to 25 kW of energy.
Albert Betz Theory on Wind Energy
In the 20th century, Germans developed the theoretical bases of wind energy for energy production. German Physicist Albert Betz originated a law related to wind turbines bearing his name, the Betz Law.
Betz Law states that a wind turbine can achieve no more than 60% efficiency.
Wind turbines in the USA
Around the 1930s, Americans used windmills to provide electricity to rural farming regions. The first wind turbine generators with power over 1.25 MW were not developed and installed until 1941 during World War II. It operated for 1,000 hours in Castleton, Vermont, USA, until one of the steel blades failed, leading to its retirement.
The scientist Palmer Cosslett Putnam designed the turbine, and the company S. Morgan Smith manufactured it. After that, wind turbines that generate this much electricity will not be seen again for the next 40 years.
Wind Power After The World War II
The technology of wind power has significantly changed in two countries from different sides: the United States and Denmark. In Denmark, the primary reason for this is that the federal governments, in the succession of post-World War II, wanted to keep the countrywide energy generation system.
Denmark’s push allowed them to be independent of large electrical power plants and rely on renewable energy sources. It also provided a more suitable distribution of electricity grids from which the citizens would greatly benefit.
In the United States, there was a severe oil crisis around the 1970s, pushing the country to invest in wind power.
In 1957, Puol de Cour’s student Johannes Juul, a Danish Engineer, installed the Gedser Wind Turbine with a rotor diameter of 24 meters.
Gedser’s turbine operated from 1957 to 1967. It consists of three blades situated on horizontal axis wind turbines. It resembles the design of turbines on most modern wind farms worldwide. The electricity supply reached 200 kW of energy and operated with little disruptions or maintenance for 11 years.
Most of the wind power industry’s most prominent companies were founded during the 70s oil crises. As a result of the two oil crises in 1973 and 1979, the Carter Administration in the US promoted the utilization of renewable energy sources in the following years. This is the starting point for the further development of renewable technologies globally.
Wind Turbine Manufacturers Founded in the 1970s Oil Crisis
These are the following wind engine companies founded during the oil crises:
Vestas
Year founded: 1898; Its applications started in the late 1970s.
LM Wind Power
Year founded: 1940; Operations started in 1978.
Nordex
Year founded: 1985; Merged with the Spanish Acciona in 2016.
Nordtank or Micon
Years founded: 1980 (Nordtank) and 1982 (Micon); They merged under NEG Micon in 1997.
Spanish Gamesa
Year founded: 1976; Known today as Siemens Gamesa, they are the second largest manufacturer of wind turbines next to Vestas.
Wind Power in the Late 20th Century
Between 1975 and 1980, the US state research agency National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy made several research and development wind power projects. These efforts resulted in the creation of one of the first wind farms in the world, Altamont Pass, installed in California in 1980. Each turbine generated between 20 to 50 kW of electricity.
In early 1975, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) introduced a program for the US Department of Energy to develop large commercial wind turbines in response to skyrocketing gas prices. This pioneering program commissioned and produced some of the largest wind turbines in the world. It was an attempt to boost wind turbine technology and make it a way to develop new series of ideas that industry sectors can eventually adopt.
However, the significant decrease in electricity prices delayed this commercial development in the 1980s. The wind turbines were not able to be manufactured for commercial purposes.
Still, they remain under the program that led to numerous technologies of multi-megawatt wind turbines that people use today. These innovations include variable speed generators, aerodynamic blade design, and composite blade materials for lighter-weight blades.
Wind Power In The 21st Century
In the earlier years of this century, fossil fuels were significantly cheap. However, there was a growing concern in countries with no stable resources that would guarantee their energy supply. It is in addition to global warming and the possible exhaustion of fossil fuels upon continuous use.
This facilitated the expansion of relying on renewable energy. This effort was initially supported by Germany, Spain, Italy, the USA, and more.
The developing wind energy industry began expanding at an impressive pace of around 25% annually. This is boosted by the availability of wind resources, especially in large regions around the planet, at a lower cost.
Between the years 2002 to 2003, the oil prices started to rise again. This led to the fear that diesel fuel and natural gas exhaustion was becoming closer. This crisis sparked people’s interest in wind power production and other forms of renewable energy, such as thermoelectric and photovoltaic.
With the constant innovation of today’s technology, renewable energies possess great potential to replace the use of fossil fuels with a competitive process. At the moment, wind power is ahead of other forms of renewable energy production like geothermal, tidal, photovoltaic, thermoelectric, etc.
Currently, there is no available data regarding the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the developments in wind energy production. However, the trends seem to confirm that certain forms of renewable energy are gaining traction in the world’s key regions. The following factors also influenced it:
- The arrival of the U.S. Biden Administration
- The recovery plan by the European Commission in July 2020 emphasizes two key drivers: Decarbonization and digitization of the economy.
- China’s dominant role in playing in the energy market
These are only some factors that foretold the future of sustained growth of green energy. The US share of electricity generation from wind power grew from 1% in 1990 to 9.2% in 2021.
The European incentives resulted in a significant expansion of wind energy production there. China also invested heavily in this form of green renewable energy. In 1990, 16 countries generated a total of 3.6 billion kWh of wind power. As of 2020, 129 countries have generated around 1,597 kWh of wind power.
Wind Power Today
The use of wind power today is more convenient than before. A wide selection of urban wind turbines is available in the market today that people can purchase in different designs, sizes, and blades. We can also install it in homes because it conforms to local zoning regulations.
Some generators are battery-powered, especially the small ones, so they can power up isolated residences and areas where electric power lines cannot reach yet. With the popularity of modern homes, this is also a great alternative to bringing electricity anywhere.
The US predominantly has onshore wind farms, which provide energy to national electric transmission systems. Coastal areas usually receive larger amounts of wind and higher wind speeds, which is efficient in wind energy production. These blades may have emergency aerodynamic tips that break to prevent damage in case of extra strong winds.
The Haliade X, the most powerful offshore wind turbine that can produce up to 312 megawatts of electricity per hour in 24 hours, currently holds one of the several world records in the wind power industry.
Some of the old windmills in the US today are still standing, and people can visit the American Wind Power Center Museum in Lubbock, Texas, to see over 100 unique and rare windmills. It also acts as an educational facility for windmill heritage, where you can learn about their history and how they operate in a realistic setting. People can also visit the National Wind Technology Center to learn about its technologies.
Harnessing Residential Wind Power
Today, there are different ways in which people can harness wind electricity at home. Small wind turbines now come in three rotating blades instead of fabric sails and wooden shutters used in traditional windmills and cloth-sail wind turbines.
When the blades start to spin, they also turn a shaft connected to a generator. The blades can be as long as 40 meters for larger wind turbines, and they are often mounted on reinforced concrete towers to get more wind speed.
For off-grid locations, a mini wind turbine that generates around 2 kilowatts of electricity is enough. In more rural areas, micro wind turbines installed on buildings that can produce an output of 400 watts are enough to light four 100-watt light bulbs. We can also use them to charge the batteries and use that surplus electricity later.
On the other hand, small wind turbines are the better option for greenhouses and heating systems. This can contribute to a significant decrease in electricity bills, and the return on investment is also quicker.
Due to the increased appearance of modern wind turbines in DIY stores, many people have become interested in using them in their homes. These renewable energy sources and solar panels can help people save more and reduce carbon dependence.
Residential Wind Power in Wales
The Welsh Government allows for one residential wind turbine per house without approval from planning permission. This allows residents to have their own microgrid network and generate their own power.
