News & Articles on History of Wind Power
This page was prompted by a technical question about early electricity-generating wind turbines in the United States. The question followed a similar question about “who was the first” to interconnect a wind turbine with an electricity network. There is a lot of confusion internationally about both subjects.
The history of wind energy is a broad subject and many have written about it. I’ve pulled together a list of sources, books, links, and museums that I know about. This list is far from comprehensive. If anyone wants to add to this list or edit this list, please do so.
A number of the entries below are reviews I’ve written of books that include the history of wind energy. The original book can usually be reached from the review. Other news items are relevant to the history of wind turbine development.
Was the World’s First Wind Farm on Rhodes?
By
Thomas Leitlein
In response to my article Who Built the World’s First Wind Farm? Thomas Leitlein argues that it was the island of Rhodes off the coast of Turkey in the Aegean Sea. He makes his case below.
Video of Gedser Mill in Operation
By
Paul Gipe
As interest in the Smith-Putnam project heated up, a colleague directed me to a video of the famous mill at Gedser in Denmark. It was at Gedser where the modern wind industry began.
Smith-Putnam Turbine: Patents and Movie Clip
By
Paul Gipe
Because of increasing historical interest in the Smith-Putnam wind turbine, I’ve added two new pages on the Project: patents for …
The English Windmill by Rex Wailes–A Review
By
Paul Gipe
Ok, I am a windmill geek, have been for decades now. I work with modern wind energy, but my interest in the subject has led off in many directions, including traditional or “Dutch” windmills. I have a hefty collection of books on Dutch, German, French, and, yes, on English windmills.
79th Anniversary of First Wind Turbine Interconnection with the Grid in North America
By
Paul Gipe
On this date in 1941 an ungainly wind turbine atop Vermont’s Grandpa’s Knob fed electricity into the lines of Central Vermont Public Service Company. This was the first time in North America that a wind turbine fed electricity into the grid. Until then wind turbines had been used solely to charge batteries at remote homesteads in Canada and the United States.
Tvindkraft: The Giant That Shook the World Turns 42
By
Paul Gipe
Guinness Book of Records is considering a new category–world’s longest running or oldest megawatt-scale wind turbine. The question was thrown at me by Britta Jensen, one of the operators of Tvindkraft in northwest Jutland. She wanted to know if they qualified.
