Wind is music to the ears of turbine makers

French musician Jean-Michel Jarre has played in some unusual locations, from lighting up the Houston skyline in the USA to a sound and light display at London's Docklands. Now he is preparing to play in perhaps his most unusual venue ever - a windfarm in Jutland, Denmark.

Twenty five years ago this concert would have been unthinkable. Then, wind had yet to be taken seriously as a means of power generation.

Turbine celebration

Now 15 of NEG Micon's 750kVA wind turbines - a few of the many that provide 14 per cent of Denmark's total electricity capacity - are forming the backdrop for Jarre's concert. The show illustrates how far this young industry has progressed in a short space of time.

It was during the energy crisis of the 1970s that windpower first captured the imagination of officials in the United States. Within a few years, California had become the world leader in the wind-power industry. Even today, in the San Gorgino Pass, Palm Springs, there are thousands of turbines, from obsolete models to the sophisticated GE Wind Energy 1.5MW turbine.

Like the internet economy, however, the bubble burst. Technological teething troubles, dealing with the wind's intermittent nature and a 50-75 cents kW/hr price tag dampened the enthusiasm. For a decade, the industry struggled and few ' companies survived.

But when it re-emerged in the 1990s, blades were redesigned to increase energy capture and operate at higher wind speeds and a host of advanced features were included in the design of turbines.

Today, the entire complexion of the industry has changed. California is still king in the US, but world dominance is now held by Germany, which has 8,100MW of capacity. Over the past few years, the US has been fighting for second place with Denmark and Spain.

Long history

Despite its relatively short period as a means of producing electricity, using the wind as a means of generation has been a fascination among engineers for 100 years or more.

"People had been trying to build wind turbines throughout the last Century, but it was only at the beginning of the 1980s that we saw the modern age of this technology," said Christian Kjaer, a spokesman for the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).

"Back then, however, the turbine could only generate about 22kW - contrast this with a modern turbine, which is capable of generating up to 4.6MW, and you can see that the difference is enormous."

In the past few years, the renewables debate has taken on a new impetus with concern over greenhouse gasses. Wind and solar power are seen as a means to reducing pollution and meet the stringent targets set by the Kyoto agreement.

Kjaer is adamant that wind can play a realistic role in this objective. He highlighted that turbine structures were developing at an astonishing rate, becoming larger and able to generate more electricity as a result.

"If the current rate of development continues, these structures could be 360m tall by 2010 - the Eiffel Tower in Paris is only 320m.

"But there will be a point when the trend to build bigger turbines will have to stop - there was a similar trend in aircraft development and the 747 Jumbo Jet was the point at which it stopped.

"This did not happen because bigger aircraft were impossible, but because of other considerations such as the size of airfields. "I think the situation will be similar with wind turbines - other factors will stop them growing."

The EWEA wants to see binding targets for renewable energy and was disappointed that this was not comprehensively addressed at the recent World Summit in South Africa. But Kjaer emphasized that the event had helped ' bring renewables into the mainstream energy debate, and that the public were now more aware of the issue.

"We are not talking about an obscure technology," he said. "A recent study showed that there are no technical limitations to producing 12 per cent of the world's electricity from this form of generation."

Future thinking

Despite sometimes testing business conditions over the past 25 years, wind turbine manufacturers are convinced of the benefits. Dan Lund, sales manager at Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas, shared Kjaer's enthusiasm. He said business had expanded rapidly over the past 25 years.

"Just two decades ago we were a small turbine manufacturer and now we are one of the biggest," he added. "The business has mainly been in European countries such as Denmark, Germany, Spain and the UK, although wind energy is developing all over the world.

"In the Middle East, too, we have been, involved in projects in Iran and have been helping to conduct a windpower feasibility study in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates."

Steve Zwolinski, chief executive of GE Wind Energy, is equally upbeat about the future prospects.

"Synergies exist with several GE businesses in areas such as plastics, transportation, gearing and power controls," Swolinski, a 20-year veteran of the company, told IPG. "We expect double digit growth over the next several years."

And as the wind continues to grow in appeal in the wake of the Kyoto protocol and other environmental initiatives, other power industry heavyweights are entering the industry.

Among them are ABB A/S in Denmark, which is looking to increase its market share in future. Claus Madsen, company president, summed up the optimistic mood. "We will commit resources to make windpower more competitive," he emphasised. IPG