Smith-Putnam 1.25 MW wind turbine
Aerogenerador Smith-Putnam de 1,25 MW
- Date
- 1941 · confidence high
- Place
- Castleton, Vermont, United States
- Credited to
- Palmer Putnam and the S. Morgan Smith Company
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
A turbine with a 53 m two-bladed steel rotor, the first megawatt-class machine connected to an electrical grid. It ran for four years until a blade broke through metal fatigue.
It was in service from October 1941 to March 1945.
What it led to
- large-scale wind power studies of the 1950s
- blade and aerodynamic load design
- later commercial wind turbines