THE RISE OF WINDCOOPERATIVES AFTER THE 1973 OIL CRISIS
In 1973, the oil crisis in Europe made us aware of how dependent we were on imports of oil. Car-free Sundays and schools without heating made a deep impression. From then on, the focus was on alternatives and diversification. Renewable energy became a political theme and a scientific field of research. But civilians also got to work. Enthusiastic self-builders built their first wind turbines in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Denmark. Associations of self-builders arose, such as the Windmolengroep in Amsterdam. From this the first initiatives emerged in the 1980s in Denmark and later also in the Netherlands and Germany the first wind cooperatives: citizens are going to install and operate increasingly larger wind turbines together. But wind turbine manufacturers are also expanding. The most impressive achievement of what citizens can do together is in the name of the Danes. In 1974, more than 400 people worked together for three years to build what was then the largest wind turbine in the world. The wind turbine is still spinning
and is well worth a visit.
The energy transition to energy democracy, Dirk Vansintjan, REScoop, 2015, p. 43.
