Experts in wind power history recently gathered at the German Wind Power Museum in Stemwede, northern Germany, as part of an initiative to strengthen the international archiving of wind energy records. The meeting formed part of a broader project led by the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA), aimed at linking existing archives and supporting the development of new ones around the world.
A key partner in this effort is the Mills Archive Trust, based in the United Kingdom, which holds a collection of more than three million items related to the history of wind and water power. The Trust brings significant expertise to the task of cataloguing and sharing the historical evolution of wind energy.
The German Wind Power Museum is a central hub in this work, with a growing collection of historical artefacts from various stages of wind energy development. The collaboration reflects a broader aim to document the long and rich history of renewable energy—from its early uses in windmills and watermills for grinding grain, through to experiments with wind-generated electricity in the 19th century, and the more systematic development of modern wind energy from the 1970s onwards.
With support from the Council of Europe and the European Union, the project also includes contributions from the Nordic Folkecenter for Renewable Energy. Together with the Mills Archive Trust and the WWEA, the aim is to build a more complete and accessible record of wind power's historical and technological development across Europe and beyond.
Further details can be found at: Mills to Megawatts
image courtesy Deutches Windkraftmuseum
