The windmill, which was introduced into Wexford at the start of the 14th Century, has once again started to make a comeback. In a short few years from now it will be in its eighth century of producing power from the wind flowing over Ireland.

In its modern incarnation the windmill is known as a Wind Turbine or even a WEC (Wind Energy Converter). Whereas the traditional windmill produced mechanical power and was used to drive millstones, saws, water pumps and other machinery, the wind turbine is used to produce electricity, which is predominately fed into the electricity network.

The traditional windmill reached the peak of its technical development around the start of the 19th century. It went into a decline due to the more convenient and cheap fossil-fuelled power sources then being developed. These power plants burnt coal in a boiler to produce steam for running steam engines.

The steam engines could be located practically anywhere once the canal and railway networks were set up to transport the fuel. These power sources were used to power the factories that allowed mass production of goods and brought about the industrial revolution on which our modern prosperity is founded. This happy state of affairs continued and by the end of the 19th century an even cheaper and convenient fossil fuel was harnessed - oil.

The use of oil fuelled engines allowed many machines to be invented and developed which would not have been possible before its introduction. Motorcars, transport lorries, tractors and aeroplanes were introduced which transformed many aspects of life. Many lovers of old machinery still treasure the old coal fired steam powered machines as witnessed by the popularity of the vintage rallies.

At about the same time the use of electricity was developed for lighting and power and convenience. This was also generated using the fossil fuels laid down in the earth hundreds of millions of years before. The remaining traditional windmills slowly went out of use as the 20th Century went on and the real cost of fossil fuels was lowered. The last windmill in the Republic to work commercially was Mylers Windmill in Tachumshane Co. Wexford, which worked until 1936.

Meanwhile, the development of the modern wind turbine continued at a snails pace. In the rural areas of Wexford wind chargers became a common sight when wet batteries for powering wireless radio receivers needed to be charged. These were expensive and low powered and not very reliable and were put out of use by the introduction of rural electrification to all areas around the late 1950's.

One country - Denmark stands out in its improvement of the modern wind turbine. The Danish Professor P. La Cour established a windmill experimental station funded by the state in 1891 at Askov in Denmark. He successfully built and run a mill with sails of 22.8m diameter (75ft), which produced 18Kw.

Danish windmill manufacturers were producing machines of 30Kw output by the 1920's. This pioneering trend has continued to this day with Denmark being at the forefront of wind turbine progress and manufacture. With a population not much larger than Irelands it employs more people in the wind industry than in fishing.

The carefree use of fossil fuels continued until the 1970's when the oil producing countries gave the world a shock by restricting the output of oil, causing large increases in the cost of energy production. This shock gave an impetus to the wind industry to try and develop wind turbines, which could replace some of the imported oil for energy creation. Denmark again was to the fore and the Danish Government decided to pay a premium price for electricity generated from wind.

The idea was that in order to get the premium price and make a profit, the turbines would have to run and produce electricity for a number of years. This strategy was very successful and Danish manufacturers competed with each other to produce bigger, better and more reliable machines so that today Denmark produces about a half of the wind turbines in the world and a substantial proportion of its energy is produced from wind power.

The Irish governments adopted a strategy, which was almost the opposite, and they copied the UK in having competitions for the cheapest wind generated electricity. This has resulted in there being practically no indigenous wind industry in Ireland - the fastest growing industry in the world!

A further upset for the world was the slow realisation in the 1990's that the massive release of carbon dioxide due to the burning of billions of tonnes of fossil fuels was changing the climate. The surface temperature of the globe was rising and the effects of this could only be guessed at but included sea level rise and increased storminess. Both of these effects would be critical for South Wexford with its exposed coastline and low lands.

In the years since 1973 wind turbines have improved spectacularly and are now able to generate electricity cheaply and without pollution. The rotational speeds have dropped as the size has gone up and because of the public demands for virtually noiseless operation. Machines of 1000 Kw power output with blades up to 30m long are now feasible and relatively cheap.

Current developments in Wexford, with efforts to establish community owned wind turbines, many people think this is the way forward and could be the model for other counties. Hopefully the careful and considered reintroduction of advanced windmills into our local landscapes will help to lessen the potentially ruinous costs of the excessive use of fossil fuels on our natural environment.

Home | Contact us | Services | Seeking Site Owners | Heritage | Site Map | Links