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By Simon Leufstedt
Friday, 6 June, 2008

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Simon Leufstedt is the editor of Green Blog. Simon has previously studied Global Environmental Justice and is currently studying Human Ecology and Political Science at Lund University in Sweden. Simon is also blogging over at the Swedish 350 website and working with the Swedish TckTckTck organisation. You can follow Simon on Twitter.

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Renewable Energy

The demolition of a record-holder

Yesterday the 15 year old Swedish wind power station Matilda was demolished. Matilda wasn’t an ordinary wind turbine. She was a record-holder.

Since she was constructed 15 years ago on Gotland she has supplied 15000 homes with electricity. Her wind turbines rotated for 61.469 hours and she produced a total of 61,4 GWh. That is more renewable energy than any other single power plant has ever produced.

Näsudden on Gotland, which was Matilda’s home until yesterday, is the area that has the most wind power plants in Sweden. Näsudden also has a long tradition and experience of electricity production, research and development for the wind power business. Matilda was the first wind turbine and she helped pave the way for large-scale constructions of wind power plants around Sweden.

Matilda will now be replaced with a newer and more modern wind power station.

Below is a video showing the demolition of Matilda:

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Energy Numbers

But now, Matilda's record has been broken http://j.mp/aeh2Wh

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GreenBlog

That is nice. Thanks for sharing!

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Christoffre

To Robert DeLaPlaza
All the material used to build Matilda can be sold and be turned inte money so they can build other windmills (or at least pay of a bit on the new one). They dont just tear it down and throw the scraps away. And concrete. Its only rock and cement. If something is reclaimable its concrete.

You sounds just like one of those people that complains only becouse they are able to. I really hope that you return and read this.

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Robert DeLaPlaza

What a waste of structure, it don't matter what the reasons were to demolish this wind generator, old technology, low efficiency too expensive maintenance, whatever it was; this tower could have been used for a new project and not destroyed, wasting thousands of tons of concrete.

That is what has this planet on the brink of extinction... WASTE !

That is why mankind is doomed, unless we change our ways.

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Stefan Jockusch

The numbers lead to an average production rate of 1Megawatt, which might be impressive for a 15year old technology but is surely not capable to supply 15000 homes, which then would just have got around 70 Watt each and just 1,5kwh a day.

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Trackbacks

  1. Wind Turbine « Labenergy’s Weblog says:
    September 29, 2008 at 3:23 pm

    [...] Matilda, was a wind turbine located on Gotland, Sweden. It produced a total of 61.4 GWh in the 15 years it was active. That is more renewable energy than any other single wind power turbine had ever produced to that date. It was demolished on June 6th, 2008. [...]

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