By Asha Gage, IET Archivist
The subject of this blog came about after a call for interested organisations to respond to a survey concentrating on archival collections on wind energy. This survey is part of the European-funded project ‘Mills to Megawatts’ that aims to document and tell the story of wind energy across Europe.
As the UK has played an important role in the research and development for alternative energy sources, I thought the IET Archives would have some records within our collections, but I was amazed to find out just how much. The survey allowed us to identify these records and group them together for the first time. It was a worthwhile exercise from a curatorial perspective as well as encouraging for those involved in the ‘Mills to Megawatts’ project to learn that so many records are in existence within an engineering and technology archive.
As part of the survey, we were visited by Nathaniel and Elizabeth, the Archivist and Director, respectively, from the Mills Archive Trust. Kolya Abramsky, energy archives consultant and the designer of the survey, also attended. It was a hugely beneficial meeting where we had the opportunity to show some of our collections, discuss the aims of the project and explore collaborative ways of working.
During the visit we were able to display a selection of our records covering a range of dates from the 1930s to the 1990s. These included reports, publications, photograph albums, correspondence, personal and corporate records, all relating to the development of wind power generation. And as the IET is a global institution, many of these records included projects outside of the UK.
To find out more about the visit, see the Mills to Megawatts: A visit to the Institution of Engineering and Technology Archives newsletter.
ref NAEST 253/19/02
A SPOTLIGHT ON CAMARTHEN BAY
Whilst delving into the boxes for records to display I came across a small collection of brightly coloured leaflets that caught my eye.
They are part of a series of CEGB (Central Electricity Generating Board) records of publications and videos covering the 1960s-1990s, and these particular leaflets focused on wind energy.
The leaflets, only 5 in total, cover the CEGB’s experimental wind farm in Carmarthen Bay in the 1980s.
Why wind? Why now?
In the 1970s, most of the UK’s electricity was produced by coal-burning power stations. This was also the period of industrial action and the oil crisis in 1973 and the energy crisis in 1979. These defining moments, both at home and on a global scale, coupled with burgeoning environmental concerns, incentivised the need to research and develop alternative energy sources. One of these developments was the now discontinued Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation (NFFO) which was introduced as part of the Electricity Act 1989. The UK’s electricity supply companies were obligated to secure specified amounts of electricity from non-fossil sources which in turn provided the impetus for the commercial development of renewable energy in the UK[i].
Sir Walter Marshall, Chief Scientist at the Department of Energy, initiated the Government’s investigations into the potential of ‘renewable’ energy sources in 1974. The CEGB recognised the need to be in the forefront of this research and in 1978 started its own wind power programme, which resulted in the creation of an experimental wind farm in Wales.
ref NAEST 253/19/03
From coal-fired power station to experimental wind farm
In 1980 the CEGB announced its strategy to research and develop wind energy on a commercial level. Its objectives were to explore the technical and economic potential in addition to its environmental impact.
The first move was to install a 200kW 24 metre rotor diameter wind turbine at Carmarthen Bay, South Wales. This wind farm sat adjacent to the decommissioned coalfired power station known locally as ‘Carmarthen Bay’ or ‘The Bay’.
This imposing structure was the largest in Britain at the time. Its electrical output fed into the local network via a nearby South Wales Electricity Board substation. It was formally put into operation on 16 November 1982 by Lady Marshall, wife of Sir Walter Marshall, who was by then the Chair of CEGB, thus overseeing the culmination of his investigations from the previous decade.
The site, officially named The Carmarthen Bay Wind Energy Demonstration Centre, became the principal site for testing and demonstrating British equipment for harnessing the power of wind to produce electricity. It was instrumental in the development of wind energy as the results from the experiments carried out here formed the basis for choosing Britain’s first wind parks.
Several wind turbines were erected and studied. These included;
- A 28-metre diameter three-bladed machine, 300kW, mounted on a 25-metre-high steel tower, with horizontal blades.
- A ‘Shrouded’ design, the only one of its kind in the world, with an output of 10kW, with a vertical axis, so the direction of the wind was not an issue. This machine was only 10 metres in diameter but could be extended to generate increased power.
- A 130kW machine, with a vertical axis, with 2 blades 25 metres apart, mounted on a 25-metre-tall concrete tower.
- A 300kW turbine, windmill style, with 2 blades.
- Images below from right to left show the ‘Shrouded’ machine; 200kW wind turbine built 1982; Musgrove vertical wind turbine.
The Carmarthen Bay site was never intended to become a commercial wind farm due to insufficient suitable land to accommodate more than a few machines. It was an experimental facility that allowed CEGB engineers and scientists to study a range of important topics. These included safety features, clustering (where energy losses occur due to proximity of placement), noise studies to assess the environmental impact, public acceptability, fluctuating supply, and wind data measurements.
ref NAEST 253/19/04
In total 5 turbines were tested from 1982 to 1987. By the early 1990s the test site had served its purpose so was closed in the late 1990s, the machines having been removed and the power station, that ceased generating electricity in 1984, was demolished in 1991-1992. It is now an important habitat and breeding site for wetland birds. A clue left behind of these once great structures was uncovered in 2018 when a storm coupled with costal erosion exposed the base of a wind turbine.
Conclusion
This first wind turbine installation in South Wales in 1982 provided an output of 200kW, enough to power a small village. However, it was the bigger picture that was of importance here. It tested British design and manufacturing, it was a means to study the economic performance of wind energy as a viable alternative energy source. But it was also crucial in winning hearts and minds by assessing the environmental and social effect of these colossal structures on hilltops and coastal areas.
This facility allowed UK electricity supply industries and the government to gain valuable data, the public could witness these impressive structures up close, and manufacturers had experience operating the latest horizontal and vertical axis wind machines. The wind power test programme from the 1970s-1990s was an example of a successful collaboration between industry and government to advance technology.
The leaflets in our collection, although small and unassuming, are a contemporary account of the CEGB’s public awareness campaign. There has been research on the wind machines and subsequent technology alongside the formal reports from the trials, but these leaflets offer a different perspective. The visitor centre was a popular attraction, welcoming 16,000 visitors a year[ii] these leaflets were written to educate the public in the CEGB’s work and they are important to show this. Frustratingly, it is collections such as these that are not preserved. There is no central CEGB archive, the records are dispersed or not kept at all, making research more difficult. This is why the survey from the ‘Mills to Megawatts’ was crucial in identifying existing collections and those at risk so that we can inform future generations of the work that went before and help to shape the future in the search to find greener, alternative energy sources.
The archive collection used in this blog are wind energy leaflets produced by CEGB between 1982 – 1989 reference IET Archives NAEST 253/19/1-5.
Bibliography
Wind power in the United Kingdom – Wikipedia
Renewable energy in the United Kingdom – Wikipedia
1970s energy crisis – Wikipedia
Mills to Megawatts – The Mills Archive
The story behind the strange and experimental wind farm in Burry Port, Llanelli | Wales Online
UK Large-Scale Wind Power Programme From 1970 to 1990:The Carmarthen Bay Experiments and the Musgrove Vertical-Axis Turbines by Trevor J. Price accessed via Wind 30-3-Price June 2025.
Further reading
The IET Shop – Utility-scale Wind Turbines and Wind Farms
The IET Shop – Offshore Wind Turbines
The IET Shop – Wind Turbine System Design
The IET Shop – Wind Turbine System Design
Notes
[i] Wind power in the United Kingdom – Wikipedia
[ii] https://pembreyburryportheritage.co.uk/the-carmarthen-bay-wind-turbine-experiments