Innovations in Dansih Wind Turbine Industry

If we take a look at the development of electricity generating wind turbines, in the following called wind turbines, from about the first energy crisis 1973/74 until today, 2018, we can observe two characteristics – first the typical turbines have grown from a very small size of 40/50 kW installed upon a 15/20 meter high tower up to 4/6 MW and towers of about 75/100 meters. The second trait is that nearly all turbines made from many different designs during the first 10/15 years of the period have been converging in their design into accordance with one concept or model with three blades connected to a rotor axis which run a generator with a high speed after connection of the rotor with a gear in a closed nacelle placed at the top of the tower. In literature, that concept is usually called the Danish Concept.

In the social science literature of technical change which in practice usually has its theoretical foundation in economics, mainstream or evolutionary, many results or hypotheses are presented. Some examples can be mentioned:
• There will always be forces to develop and introduce new technologies (products, processes or organizational forms)
• There is a permanent tendency to substitute fixed material capital for circulating capital
• There is today a strong tendency to substitute or connect knowledge capital for material capital
• Most innovations are very small modification of existing technology, so called incremental innovations
• There are a few innovations far away from existing known technology, so called radical technology

In this paper I shall present three hypotheses about innovations – radical innovations, incremental innovations and learning experiences from former innovation work. These hypotheses shall be tested against empirical material from wind turbine history, especially but not only from Denmark.