Tvindkraft (Our Windmill)
Tvind is famous for its windmill - Tvindkraft (Tvind Power), which was an important milestone in the energy debate in the 70'ies. Tvindkraft was built by students and teachers between 1974 - 1978. It was a concrete example of how it could be done, and showed that renewable energy was possible, in an era where nuclear power plants were all too easy an option.
Visit www.tvindkraft.dk for further information.
How the windmill was created
The first sod was cut for the windmill by 400 people at Tvind on the 29th of May 1975. They were students and teachers from the schools that were in Tvind that year. The teachers had decided to build the world's biggest windmill to supply the schools with cheap, clean and renewable energy. It was during the years of the energy crisis. The oil producing countries wanted more money for their oil and in Denmark as well as in other countries, the construction of nuclear power plants was on rapid advance. In Danmark we didn´t yet have nuclear power, but the plans of building nuclear power plants were getting ready.
Large parts of the populations in many countries were against. Everywhere there were protests. By building the windmill we wished to point another way to go. Many people flocked to Tvind during the construction of the windmill, which was undertaken by the Mill Team, which consisted partly of volunteers coming from all over the place, partly some of the permanent teachers. The construction of the windmill took three years. Many decisions were made along the way. All the time new questions arose. It was pioneering work. Advice was sought from experts, but eventually we ourselves had to make all decisions together based on our common sense.
Tvindkraft - pioneer and veteran
On May 29th 1975 we cut the first sod in Tvind to create the world's biggest windmill. The same year the Swedish nuclear plant Barsebäch went into operation.
On May 29th 2005 Tvindkraft celebrated its 30th anniversary. A few days later the Swedish nuclear plant at Barsebäck stopped operating. Tvindkraft keeps on running as it has done for the past many years. Read more here about the background of the building of the windmill and visions about the future, then and now.
The windmill was built during the advance of nuclear power, at a time when energy planners thought little of wind power and nothing at all about a bunch of amateurs starting out on such a breakneck project. However, in the Danish population - and abroad - word got around about the windmill construction, and people flocked to the building site from near and far to voice their opinions. Many were inspired by the determination and conviction of the windmill group, and the size of the windmill showed that windpower was serious. Tvindkraft has shown that where people unite about a vision, start thinking and throw in their efforts, new trails can be blazed.
Today windpower covers more than 20% of Denmark's electricity production, and Denmark has the largest production of windmills in the world. This is something to be happy about. At the same time only 8 countries in the world have any considerable installed windmill capacity, and the energy crisis is just as pressing as it was in the 1970's. Global warming destroys the conditions for life on earth and kills people and animals. In a cover story from April 3rd 2006, Time Magazine warns against a spiral of effects of global warming which at some time may tip the balances of natural enviroments on earth.
Oil wars kill thousands of people and use resources that might be used on renewable energy resources and human development. And maybe we are now faced with the world's first uranium war?
At the same time, every day the sun sends us 15.000 times more power than we need on earth. Energy which no one has to fight for. It cannot be centralised or monopolised. This is as true now as it was then in the 1970's when the windmill was built.
At Tvindkraft we work for the vision of making the world's energy supplies 100% renewable. At the present moment by increasing the output of Tvindkraft, and through cooperation with others with the same vision in Denmark and abroad.
On www.tvindkraft.dk you can read and see pictures about how the windmill was created, about the technical details, how it was transformed into a huge work of pop-art in the Westjutland landscape, about the windmill people. You can read writings, about our visions of the future and concrete steps on the road to an earth with 100% renewable energy.
Welcome here and welcome to visit us in Tvind!