Slow Chat III

[Windy_Skies]

@Windy_Skies

…

Something like that was built in Germany in the 1980s as ‘Growian’ (Großwindanlage). The blade was shown at the Hannover fair. But somehow it failed in practical application, perhaps due to bearing problems with the asymmetric wind force. So I assume that this breakthrough will break again

“The partners and partly also the BMFT also operated the project with political motives. Günther Klätte, board member of the RWE, said at a general meeting of the company: “We need Growian (large wind turbines) to prove that it is not possible” and explained that Growian is something like an educational model to convert nuclear power opponents to true faith.”

Growian

The partners as well as the BMFT also had political motives connected with the project. Günther Klätte, management board member of RWE, stated during a general business meeting: “We require Growian [in the general sense of large wind turbines] as a proof of failure of concept”, and he noted that “the Growian is a kind of pedagogical tool to convert the anti-nuclear energy crowd to the true faith”.[6] A similar statement regarding the incurred financial burdens was reported of Minister of Finance and former Minister of Research Hans Matthöfer: “We know it won’t do anything for us. But we do it to demonstrate to the wind energy advocates that it doesn’t work.”[6] After the Green Party had derided the installation as the electricity provider’s “fig leaf” on the occasion of groundbreaking in May 1981, the RWE took internal measures to make sure that publicly a position of open-mindedness towards alternative energy production was emphasized while public interest in wind energy was allayed.

Insuperable structural load and material problems occurred, not least due to the two-bladed lee runner configuration. The installation turned out to be a failure in most respects, spent substantially more time under repair than up and running, and was not even capable of sustained test operation. When it was decommissioned it had only logged a total of 420 hours in active operation.[5]

Growian is regarded as one of the largest failures in the history of wind power and was unable to fulfill any of the expectations riding on its conception. What few insights were gained found little application in wind turbine construction. Some lessons were however learned from conceptional mistakes made in its construction, e.g., the futility of trying to reach profitable installation sizes without taking intermediate steps.[5]

The last point is one of the things expanded on in this short video. The video is also a nice history of wind energy:

History about Nordex and other wind turbines, Growian test facility

History about Nordex and other wind turbines, Growian test facility