The use of mechanical energy: from the 7th to the 19th century
The history of wind turbines begins with the use of the wind's kinetic energy to perform mechanical work. This energy was used to move objects, for example, or to cool or feed oneself. The ancestors of modern wind turbines are windmills, the first traces of which date back to the 7th century. They flourished in Europe from the 11th century onwards.
The Persian windmill
In 7th-century Iran, Persian windmills were the first of their kind, the last of which still stand at the top of the village of Nashtifan. Made from clay and straw, they are composed of wooden blades connected to a vertical shaft under which a rolling stone is fixed. The force of the wind on the blades turns the stone and grinds the grain.
The traditional windmill
Windmills became more widespread from the 11th century onwards, with a more complex version than the Persian model. The windmill was equipped with a tower, the axis tilted and became horizontal, the wooden blades were transformed into canvas wings with a wooden frame, and a gear system amplified their movement. A brake system is added to prevent the mechanism from running out of control.
While the shape and size of mills vary according to period and location, the typical mill from the 11th to 18th centuries features four rectangular wings. These are oriented with respect to the wind by means of a cap on the top of the tower, or by means of a base directed by a rudder.
The Bollée wind turbine
Bollée's wind turbine has two iron wheels attached to the top of its column. The first turns when the wind strikes it at an angle, and this movement activates a gear that orients the head of the turbine towards the wind. The second wheel, located at the rear of the turbine, has blades in the opposite direction to the first, which direct the airflow perpendicularly to drive pumps.
The windmill officially became a wind turbine in France in 1868, when the Bollée family patented their windmill under the name "éolienne". While the characteristics of this first wind turbine were similar to those of windmills, the yields allowed were optimized: the tower gained in height (15 m) and orientation in relation to the wind became automatic.
For eight centuries, windmills were the norm in Europe. From the 19th century onwards, a new Eldorado opened up for wind power, thanks to the advent of electricity and the discovery of how to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. At first, this was done by a dynamoelectric machine, then by a more powerful alternator.
Converting mechanical energy into electrical energy: the precursors of modern wind turbines (late 19th-early 20th century)
Windmills 2.0. convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. The wind sets in motion the rotor blades, which, connected to a transmission shaft, drive bearings (with a speed multiplier) and a generator. At the same time, several electric wind turbine projects were launched in Scotland, France, the United States and Denmark.
James Blyth's wind turbine
The very first wind turbine to generate electricity was vertical. Invented in 1887 by the Scotsman James Blyth, it was 8 m high. Blyth was the first to place the dynamo on the tower of the turbine, rather than on the ground, which would become the norm on modern wind turbines.
Blyth summed up the problem that would shape a century of research and development: " Any idiot can create a wind turbine that turns and generates electricity, but the challenge is to make one that can be left unattended without running away to destruction [1]".
Charles de Goyon's wind turbine
At the same time in France, Charles de Goyon was developing an automated electric wind turbine based on an American multi-blade windmill, to which he added two dynamos located on the ground in a shed. Measuring 18 m in height and 12 m in diameter, it has a power output of 12 kW. It was the first electric wind turbine to be marketed in France: installed near Le Havre, it powered the Hève lighthouse.
Charles Brush's wind turbine
Among the first electric wind turbines, the one designed by the American Charles Brush in 1888 remains the most famous. Made of cedar wood, it is 18 m high, with a rotor comprising 144 blades and a diameter of 17 m. To convert the energy supplied by the wind into electrical energy, Charles Brush invented a direct-current dynamo.
The 12 kW wind turbine has powered the inventor's home batteries for 20 years.
Poul La Cour wind turbine
Two years later, in 1890, the Dane Poul La Cour also designed a wind turbine capable of generating electricity; he tested and optimized it in a wind tunnel of his own design. With a reduced number of blades (only four), it spins faster and has a power output of 25 kW - twice as much as Brush's machine. La Cour's wind turbines were the most widely used until the 1920s.
As early as 1920, the advances made in aeronautics during the First World War benefited wind turbine development and blade optimization. Frenchman Louis Constantin, for example, used aircraft propellers, while German Kurt Bilau also perfected blade aerodynamics.
Notable advances in the interwar period also include the very first connection to an alternating current grid (Denmark, 1919), the creation of a wind energy association in France by Louis Constantin, and the design of the Darrieus vertical axis wind turbine.
The rise of electric wind turbines following the Second World War
Although the development of wind power was part of Nazi Germany's self-sufficiency plan, little progress was made during this period in Europe, apart from Denmark, which continues to install electric wind turbines. After the Second World War, research programs were launched in Europe to diversify energy sources and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The real technical breakthroughs came from Denmark's Johannes Juul and Germany's Ulrich Hütter.
Post-war national programs
In France, EDF set up a Wind Energy Division in 1946 within the Studies and Research Department. Thanks to this unit, anemometers were placed all over the country, enabling the first maps of interest for wind energy to be drawn up.
- The Neyrpic wind turbine (three-bladed, 132 kW, 21 m diameter) was installed in 1958 at Saint Rémy des Landes. It operated from 1959 to 1966, producing 700,000 kWh over this period.
- On the same site, a 1000 kW wind turbine (three-bladed, 35 m in diameter) was tested in 1964. Due to too many technical problems, the turbine was dismantled in 1966, producing 500,000 kWh in two years.
- The Best-Romani wind turbine (800 kW, 30 m diameter) named after Lucien Romani was tested in parallel at Nogent-le-Roi between 1956 and 1962.
- The John Brown Engineering wind turbine (three-bladed, 15 m diameter) was installed in 1955 on the Orkney Islands.
- The De Havilland wind turbine (two-bladed, 24 m diameter) was installed in Wales in 1951. Faced with local opposition and inconclusive tests, the project was abandoned.
- On the Isle of Man, a three-bladed wind turbine (15 m diameter) was installed in 1959, producing 230 to 240 MWh/year. The experiment was stopped after 5 years for economic reasons.
Johannes Juul's wind turbine
In Denmark, Johannes Juul was responsible for the most advanced wind turbine of its time. He began working on new wind turbines for the Copenhagen electricity company (SEAS) in 1947, and tested several models in the 1950s.
Following in the footsteps of his teacher Poul La Cour, in 1957 he designed the Gedser wind turbine (24 m in diameter), the closest thing to a modern wind turbine. Comprising a mast and a rotor with three blades facing the wind, it is connected to a 200 kW generator. A safety system was added, with aerodynamic brakes and swivel ends capable of slowing down the rotor in the event of excessively strong winds. The wind turbine was in operation from 1959 to 1967, producing an average of 275 MWh / year.
Ulrich Hütter's wind turbine
The oil crises and the new wind energy boom to date
1970s-80s: Denmark's wind power industry takes off
In Denmark, the wind energy sector is the product of civil society. It is being built up thanks to the development of the industry and the measures taken by the current government.
In Denmark, public opposition to nuclear power is widespread. Wind power is seen as an attractive alternative. Civil society is therefore investing in the construction and promotion of wind turbines.
The Tvindkraft wind turbine
Between 1975 and 1978, a group of students and academics from the Twind School developed the Tvindkraft wind turbine. Still in operation today, the three-bladed wind turbine has a power output of 1MW and a diameter of 54m. It captures tailwinds. The blade design was adopted by many other wind turbine manufacturers.
Riisager wind turbine
The Danes, wind power pioneers
More generally, agricultural cooperatives install many wind turbines and play an active role in promoting them. They formed an association in 1978, enabling them to negotiate directly with manufacturers. The result is a strong corporate commitment to the sector.
The Danish government of the time provided financial support for the development of wind power. In 1979, it granted a 30% subsidy for the purchase of wind turbines. In 1981, the first Danish National Energy Plan set the target of installing 60,000 small wind turbines across the country by 2000, to produce 8.5% of the country's energy consumption. In 1985, the Danish government officially abandoned any plans to develop nuclear power. The Chernobyl disaster in 1986 further accelerated the development of wind power, with Le Plan de l'Energie 2000 setting an installation target of 1,500 MW by 2005.
Global market development
In response to this favorable climate, the industrial sector also began to organize itself. Vestas, today's market leader, launched its wind turbine business in 1979. In 1981, it synthesized the best wind turbine innovations and launched the Vestas V15 wind turbine (15 m diameter, 55 kW power, headwinds), which made its mark on the landscape.
In other countries, national programs aimed to develop very powerful wind turbines, which turned out to be technical and commercial failures. In the USA, for example, NASA, together with General Electric and Boeing, carried out several trials between 1977 and 1987 (wind turbines from Mod-0 with 2,500 kW to Mod-5 with 3,200 kW). The German government also set up a national wind power development program (Grosse Wind Energie Anlage Programme) with Hütter, with a target output of 3,000 kW. These attempts were unsuccessful, and the turbines were dismantled after a few years of use.
It was Danish wind turbines that first gained international recognition, particularly in California during the "Wind Rush" of the 1980s. During this period, the federal government set a target of 20% renewable electricity in the country by 2000. The State of California offered a 25% subsidy on wind power, and mapped areas suitable for wind turbines. By this time, more than 11,000 wind turbines had been installed in California.
Technologies differ from manufacturer to manufacturer, with the Danes preferring three-bladed headwinds, the Germans two-bladed tailwinds, and the Americans two- or three-bladed tailwinds.
The rise of modern wind turbines
Since the 1980s, the quest for more power has led to larger wind turbines, massive wind farms and the development of offshore wind energy.
In 40 years, the power of an onshore wind turbine has increased 50-fold! The V162, developed by Vestas, is the most powerful wind generator, with a diameter of 162 m and a capacity of 6,200 kW. Other wind turbine manufacturers are not to be outdone: Nordex, General Electric, Siemens Gamesa and Enercon have developed wind turbines with similar power ratings.
Alongside onshore wind turbines, offshore wind power developed in the 20th century. Offshore winds are stronger and more regular, and have the advantage of fewer obstacles in their path. Wind turbines can also be larger and generate more power.
In 1991, Denmark, always at the forefront of wind power, installed a 5 MW wind farm off its coast at Vindeby. In 2002, the country installed a new 160 MW wind farm at Horns Rev. Since the 2010s, the deployment of offshore wind turbines has accelerated, with projects for ever more powerful turbines.
Conclusion
In 2023, the connection target for wind power is between 21.8 and 26 GW. At the end of 2021, connected capacity stood at 18.9 GW.
Today, production is mainly driven by onshore and offshore wind power. To help meet these objectives, wind power generation methods are diversifying. As a result, new technologies are moving closer to cities, while others are being installed there.
- On the outskirts of towns: wind turbines have a larger rotor and start turning when the wind speed is slower than in the countryside;
- In the city: wind turbines like the WindBox are placed on rooftops. They benefit from the acceleration of the wind as it rises over the façades of buildings.
All these advances put us on the right track towards these objectives.
Sources
[1] Gipe P, Möllerström E. An overview of the history of wind turbine development: Part I-The early wind turbines until the 1960s. Wind Engineering. 2022;46(6):1973-2004. doi:10.1177/0309524X221117825 "any fool can make a wind turbine go round to generate electricity, but the challenge is to make one that can be left unattended without over-speeding to destruction."
Sources for the first image
Bollée wind turbine: By Michel FOUCHER - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39706214
Gedser wind turbine: Wind energy pioneers: the Gedser wind turbine (xn--drmstrre-64ad.dk)
Haliade X wind turbine : World's Most Powerful Offshore Wind Platform: Haliade-X | GE Renewable Energy
History of wind turbines
The mills
The first wind turbines
L'Arche de la Nature - The Bollée wind turbine (arche-nature.fr)
Éolienne BOLLÉE : What is it? - Sorigny Patrimoine (sorigny-patrimoine.com)
Charles F. Brush, the grandfather of wind turbines - GE Reports France
Charles Francis Brush - Wikipedia (wikipedia.org)
Poul La Cour - Wikipedia (wikipedia.org)
Wind energy pioneers: the Gedser wind turbine (xn--drmstrre-64ad.dk)
http://invention-creation.fr/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/E%CC%81olienne-de-Gedser.pdf
Sogréah-Neyrpic wind turbines > Fédération des Moulins de France (fdmf.fr)
