The construction of the 54-meter tall turbine began in 1975 and was ready to produce electricity in 1978. It was built by teachers and students from the nearby Tvind schools, with the goal to build the biggest wind turbine in the world. In the initial phase, more than 400 people participated in preparing the site for construction. At this time the Tvind turbine project had a highly political motive towards being a cleaner and safer alternative to energy production than nuclear power, which at this time had large movements against the concept.

Wind turbines have an average lifetime of about 25 years, but the world’s oldest operating example has been generating power for 44 years. Operating in the town of Tvind in Jutland, Denmark, the Tvind wind turbine, also known as the Tvindkraft, was the first multi-megawatt wind turbine in the world.

The Tvindkraft turbine had an initial capacity of 2MW; however, it has mostly functioned at half of its capacity at 1MW. It has a height of 53m and a wing diameter of 54m. The wings sweep an area of 2,290m2 and while turning at a maximum of 21 revolutions per minute it produces an annual yield of 500,000 kilowatt-hours (KWh). To put this in context, a new offshore turbine created by GE Renewable Energy called the Haliade X is 260m tall with 107m blades. One of these turbines alone can power 16,000 households on a typical day in the North German Sea.

The turbine has been recognized internationally and was awarded the European Solar Prize in 2008 for the educational effect the turbine has had on the local community.

According to the Internet