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.

Boeing Mod2 Enertech Washington 05 2

PG&E Boeing Mod-2 Wind Turbine Removal Mark Haller

By

Paul Gipe

I had this video digitized for its historical content from a video cassette provided by Mark Haller from his collection …

San Gorgonio Pass 20131103 0008

Video of NedWind Turbines Spinning in Palm Springs May 2024

By

Paul Gipe

This is a 23 second video of NedWind wind turbines operating on the Whitewater Wash near Palm Springs, California in …

Wincon Runaway Clip 20250626

Wincon Wind Turbine Runaway San Gorgonio Pass Mark Haller

By

Paul Gipe

This is a nearly 30-minute video of a Danish Wincon wind turbine running away in the San Gorgonio Pass some …

Altamont farm windmill california 198502 1200x600

Enertech E44 Wind Turbine Runaway SeaWest Altamont Pass

By

Paul Gipe

This is a 33-minute video of an Enertech E44 running in overspeed in the Altamont Pass in the late 1980s. …

Fayette altamont 04

More on Fayette Manufacturing and its One-Time Resurrection

By

Paul Gipe

While archiving articles I’d written for the American Wind Energy Association’s newsletter, Wind Energy Weekly, I came across this one about Fayette’s restructuring in 1990. At the time I was the west coast representative for AWEA in Tehachapi. There’s not a lot on my web site about Fayette. (I do mention them in my books and in articles on capacity factor and how this figure of merit can be so misleading.) Consequently, for historical reference I am posting the article with the original date that I submitted it to AWEA. See Fayette Reborn in Major Restructuring.

Enertech E44 Nrel Cropped

Set of Enertech 10-foot Long Blades for Sale

By

Paul Gipe

Robert Kroeger, a former Enertech sales representative, has a set of 10-foot long Gougeon blades probably for a 4 kW …