This is a 23 second video of NedWind wind turbines operating on the Whitewater Wash near Palm Springs, California in May 2024. The video was recorded by Thomas Spiglanin of Palm Springs Windmill Tours.
In the late 2000s, Herman Drees was in the Netherlands and discovered thirteen NedWind two-blade wind turbines from 1994 that had never been installed. He bought them, shipped them to Palm Springs, and installed them in 2009. A second row of 20 of these turbines stood not far downwind but was removed during a major repowering project by Terra-Gen in 2021. Parts from those original 20 turbines remained and were recently used as replacement components to keep this unique array operational.
The NedWind turbines are unique in the San Gorgonio Pass. They are the only Dutch wind turbines operating there and the last two-blade wind turbines remaining. In the early to mid 1980s two-blade wind turbines were quite common. However, they proved problematic and were eventually removed.
The 500 kW turbine uses variable pitch blades upwind of the tower. In 2001, the original 20 turbines turned in a respectable performance of nearly 900 kWh/m² comparable to Danish wind turbines of similar size.
The NedWind 40 used a two-blade rotor variously 41 to 44 meters in diameter, sweeping from 1,300 m² to 1,500 m² of the wind stream. They are among the last of the breed.
https://archive.org/details/ned-wind-turbines-spinning-in-palm-springs-may-2024
