The Winds of Change? How Britain’s Early Wind Experiments Shaped Today’s Energy Transition

The origins of this story lie not in a turbine field or policy document, but in an archive survey. A call went out across Europe for organisations to contribute to research on historical wind energy collections, part of the EU-funded Mills to Megawatts project. Its aim is simple but ambitious: to document and tell the story of wind power development across Europe, from early experiments to modern megawatt-scale deployment.

Given the UK’s longstanding role in energy research and alternative power development, it seemed likely that the IET Archives would hold relevant material. What was unexpected was the scale and richness of what emerged. The survey provided an opportunity to identify, catalogue, and group wind-energy-related records for the first time. From a curatorial perspective, it was invaluable. From a historical perspective, it was revelatory.

The exercise confirmed that Britain’s journey into wind power was neither tentative nor peripheral. It was structured, ambitious, and deeply technical.

Archives as engineering evidence

As part of the survey process, representatives from the Mills Archive Trust visited the IET Archives. Nathaniel and Elizabeth, Archivist and Director respectively, were joined by Kolya Abramsky, an energy archives consultant and the designer of the survey itself.

The visit quickly became more than a formality. It evolved into a working discussion about how engineering archives support contemporary understanding of energy transitions. The IET collections presented that day spanned six decades, from the 1930s through to the 1990s. They included reports, publications, correspondence, photograph albums, and both personal and corporate records.

Crucially, these were not confined to UK projects. As a global institution, the IET’s archive reflects international engineering collaboration, reinforcing how energy innovation has always crossed borders.

Understanding these historical systems requires structured interpretation, much like modern infrastructure analysis, where risk assessment fundamentals help engineers understand consequences, trade-offs, and long-term impact.

A spotlight on Carmarthen Bay

While preparing materials for display, a small set of brightly coloured leaflets stood out. Produced by the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) between the 1980s and early 1990s, these publications focused on wind energy experimentation.

Only five leaflets survive, but their significance far outweighs their size. They document the CEGB’s experimental wind farm at Carmarthen Bay, an initiative that quietly laid foundations for Britain’s modern wind industry.

These leaflets were part of a broader public-facing education campaign, an early recognition that energy transitions depend as much on public understanding as technical success.

Why wind? Why then?

To understand why Carmarthen Bay mattered, it helps to revisit the context of the 1970s.

At that time, the UK’s electricity supply relied overwhelmingly on coal-fired power stations. The decade was marked by industrial unrest, fuel shortages, and two major oil crises in 1973 and 1979. These pressures, combined with emerging environmental awareness, forced policymakers and engineers to reconsider how electricity was generated.

The Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation (NFFO), introduced under the Electricity Act 1989, was a direct response. It required electricity suppliers to source a portion of their power from non-fossil fuels, creating a commercial incentive for renewables.

Earlier still, in 1974, Sir Walter Marshall, then Chief Scientist at the Department of Energy, initiated government-backed investigations into renewable energy. The CEGB recognised that it could not afford to lag behind. In 1978, it launched its own wind power programme, with Carmarthen Bay selected as the primary experimental site.

This systematic approach mirrors how engineers today are trained to evaluate emerging technologies within safety, economic, and environmental constraints, principles reinforced through health and safety training for engineers.

From coal station to wind laboratory

In 1980, the CEGB formally committed to exploring wind energy at a commercial scale. Carmarthen Bay, adjacent to a decommissioned coal-fired power station, became the focal point.

The first turbine installed was formidable by the standards of its time: a 200 kW wind turbine with a 24-metre rotor diameter, the largest in Britain when it was erected. Its output fed directly into the local electricity network via a South Wales Electricity Board substation.

The turbine was officially commissioned on 16 November 1982 by Lady Marshall, marking the culmination of nearly a decade of policy and research development. The site was renamed the Carmarthen Bay Wind Energy Demonstration Centre, reflecting its purpose as a testing ground rather than a commercial wind farm.

Engineering experimentation in practice

Over the following years, the site hosted an extraordinary variety of turbine designs, making it a living laboratory for wind engineering.

These included:

• A three-bladed, horizontal-axis turbine, 28 metres in diameter, producing 300 kW.
• A unique shrouded vertical-axis turbine, producing 10 kW, designed to operate independently of wind direction.
• A vertical-axis turbine with two blades mounted on a 25-metre concrete tower, generating 130 kW.
• A two-bladed, windmill-style turbine rated at 300 kW.

Each design addressed different technical questions around efficiency, reliability, and scalability. Engineers studied noise impact, clustering effects, safety mechanisms, fluctuating supply, and public acceptability. These investigations informed the siting and design of Britain’s first commercial wind parks.

The programme exemplified applied engineering research, where theory meets reality through testing, iteration, and evaluation. Communicating those findings clearly across teams and stakeholders was essential, reflecting principles found in effective communication in construction and engineering.

An experiment, not an end point

Carmarthen Bay was never intended to become a large-scale wind farm. The surrounding land simply could not support extensive turbine deployment. Its purpose was experimental, and by that measure, it succeeded.

Between 1982 and 1987, five turbines were tested. By the early 1990s, the programme had delivered the data it was designed to generate. The site closed in the late 1990s. The coal-fired power station had already ceased operations in 1984 and was demolished in the early 1990s.

Nature reclaimed the landscape. Today, the site is an important habitat for wetland birds. Yet traces of its industrial past remain. In 2018, coastal erosion exposed the base of one of the former wind turbines, a physical reminder of Britain’s early wind ambitions.

Public engagement and perception

One of the most revealing aspects of the archive is not the technical reports, but the public information leaflets themselves.

The Carmarthen Bay visitor centre attracted up to 16,000 visitors a year, a remarkable figure for an experimental energy site. These leaflets were designed to explain wind energy in accessible terms, addressing questions about safety, noise, and environmental impact.

They represent an early recognition that engineering innovation depends on public trust. Today, similar principles underpin transparency and accountability across engineering education and delivery, reinforced by mechanisms such as a training provider reviews page.

The absence of a central CEGB archive makes these surviving materials especially valuable. Many records have been dispersed or lost, complicating research and risking the erosion of institutional memory.

Why this history still matters

The wind power programme of the 1970s to 1990s was a successful collaboration between industry and government. It tested British design, manufacturing, and systems integration. It helped shape policy. It informed public understanding.

Most importantly, it provided engineers, policymakers, and manufacturers with experience. That experience laid the groundwork for today’s wind industry, now a cornerstone of the UK’s net-zero strategy.

The preservation of these records ensures that future engineers can learn not only from success, but from process. This is why projects like Mills to Megawatts matter. They safeguard the evidence needed to understand how complex energy transitions actually happen.

For those considering engineering pathways linked to sustainability and infrastructure, this history reinforces why engineering and trade careers remain a strong long-term choice.

Looking forward, informed by the past

The leaflets preserved in the IET Archives may be modest in appearance, but they tell a powerful story. They show how experimentation, public engagement, and long-term thinking combined to move Britain from coal-dominated power generation towards renewable energy.

As we confront today’s climate and energy challenges, the lesson is clear. Progress is rarely sudden. It is built through careful testing, collaboration, and the willingness to learn from earlier generations of engineers. The winds of change have been blowing for longer than we sometimes remember.