Article in New Technology gained momentum in the Swedish wind power – New Technology

An article in Ny Teknik became the starting point for the Swedish wind power. It writes the wind power-doyen Staffan Engström in a new book.

“The history of the Swedish wind power “tells of wind power development from the early 1970s to today. New technologies pose five questions to the writer Staffan Engström.

You write that the Swedish wind power development started in New Technology. How?

– You could say that it started with an article I wrote in the New Technology in 1972, when wind power had begun to emerge in the energy debate. After a week of counting, I came to my own surprise until it looked technically reasonably replaced. The same year I managed to get into some positive aspects of wind energy in a book about the energy situation that I wrote together with some colleagues. The data appeared next year in a government investigation that preceded the Swedish wind energy program, says Staffan Engström ..

Why you call Sweden for a pioneer nation?

– After the 1973 oil crisis put many countries momentum, but we got going faster than such as Denmark and Germany, which later became the major wind power nations. Already in the 1970s, we built a full-scale prototypes of 2-3 megawatts, the size of today’s most common in the country, says Staffan Engström ..

How did we then left behind?

– After the referendum on nuclear power in 1980, it was determined that nuclear power would phased out in 2010. It was seen as so far ahead that they did not have to start building wind power yet.

-Utbyggnaden took off only later. In 1990, subsidies for the development and ten years later the certificate system. Today, Sweden has more wind power than Denmark, says Staffan Engström ..

Why we had no wind energy industry?

– The countries that managed to create a domestic industry had a strong political ownership of wind power and protected its home market. In Denmark, for example, was a Danish standard that must be met while the Spaniards demanded that the turbines would be manufactured in their own region, not only in Spain. So we did not in Sweden, says Staffan Engström ..

What do you think about the future of Swedish wind power?

– It would be quite possible to replace the current nuclear power with wind power if you also install 5,000 megawatts of turbines as backup power when it is not blowing enough. The additional cost is small.

It is absolutely crucial is what the Energy Commission provide for notification of nuclear power. In the best of worlds determines the politicians a timetable for settlement as investors can relate to. But I suspect there will not be any plan without nuclear power plants are operated as long as possible. When no incentive to invest in other forms of energy, and we risk a sudden end up in a dangerous situation with lack of energy and power. Instead, we should have a timetable for replacing the production, says Staffan Engström.