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A prototype 600 kW wind turbine built by DeWind is now turning in Germany at Lübeck-Zeerenwyk on an industrial estate being created on the reclaimed site of the former Lübeck metal works. A siting condition for the project was payment of DEM 12,000 as compensation for its impact on the local environment.

"The area is being treated as a nature protection area even though there is no nature at the site," comments Dietrich Meyer of the German company. "It's an industrial desert -- just sand and piles of material waiting for disposal." The owner-operator of the prototype is the Wind-House Neustadt, which also owns a DeWind 500 kW turbine.

The model has already made a name for itself by winning the IF Produkt Design Award 1997 from the Forum of Industrie Design in Hannover. The machine housing was developed with Design Factor of Kiel. Type approval was expected to be granted by Technische Überwachungs-Verein Nord in late May.

The 600 kW machine is a further development of the 500 kW design, two of which were installed last year. DeWind hopes to install around ten 600 kW machines at sites throughout Germany this year and has several export projects in the works: to France, the Czech Republic and Ireland.

The machines are assembled by De-Wind's partner, the mechanical engineering company Krupp Fördertechnik, also based in DeWind's home town of Lübeck. DeWind is a relative newcomer to the wind scene. It was set up in August 1995 by former employees of wind company Ventis of Braunschweig. Today DeWind directly employs 12 people.