Henrik Stiesdal (born April 14, 1957) is a Danish inventor and businessman in the modern

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically, w ...

industry. In 1978, he designed one of the first

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. W ...

s representing the so-called "Danish Concept" which dominated the global wind industry through the 1980s. Until 2014, Stiesdal was the Chief Technology Officer of

Siemens Wind Power Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

. During his professional career, Stiesdal has made more than 175 inventions and has received more than 650 patents related to wind power technology.

Early life

Henrik Stiesdal was born in

Hørsholm Hørsholm () is an urban area on the Øresund coast approximately north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It covers most of Hørsholm Municipality and straddles the borders neighbouring Fredensborg Municipality and Rudersdal Municipality. Hørsholm prop ...

, a town located in the East of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , established ...

. Between 1979–1988 he studied medicine, physics and biology at the University of Southern Denmark in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 2 ...

. In 1976, Stiesdal became motivated by the steam plume from a powerplant

cooling tower A cooling tower is a device that rejects waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a coolant stream, usually a water stream to a lower temperature. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and c ...

in England to build two small test turbines out of wood, steel and fabric.Rosendal, Sara.
Vindmøllepioner: Den første blev rejst på ladet af en traktorvognIn EnglishPhoto gallery
''

Ingeniøren ''Ingeniøren'' (full name: ''Nyhedsmagasinet Ingeniøren'', literally ''The News Magazine "The Engineer"'') is a Danish weekly newspaper specialising in engineering topics. History and profile The paper has covered science and technology issues a ...

'', 25 December 2014. Accessed: 26 December 2014. He subsequently built a full-scale grid-connected wind turbine which was installed in 1978 on his parents' farm.

Career

In 1978, Henrik Stiesdal designed (along with Karl Erik Jørgensen) one of the first wind turbines representing the so-called "Danish concept"; upwind, horizontal axis, three blades. In 1979, his design was licensed to Vestas A/S, a Danish manufacturer of farm wagons, truck cranes and ship coolers. Stiesdal's design formed the basis of this company's rise to become one of the leading wind turbine manufacturers. After first working for

Vestas Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines that was founded in 1945. The company operates manufacturing plants in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, India, Italy, Romania, the Un ...

as a consultant, he joined the company in 1983 as project manager. In 1987, Stiesdal joined the Danish wind turbine manufacturer Bonus Energy A/S as a development specialist.McKenna, John (2012)
The 30 most influential people in the wind energy industry
''windpowermonthly.com'', 26 September 2012. In 1988, he became a technical manager and in 2000 he took the role of Chief Technology Officer.Industrial Technologies (2012)

''Industrial Technologies 2012 - Speakers'', 2012. In 2004, Bonus Energy A/S was acquired by the German technology company Siemens. Stiesdal became the Chief Technology Officer of Siemens Wind Power and remained in this position until the end of 2014, when he retired. According to rough calculations by Stiesdal, one person's work for a year at a wind turbine manufacturer or subcontractor compensates for 650 western peoples' CO₂ emissions for that year. In 2016, he became affiliate professor at DTU Wind, the Technical University of Denmark´s Department of Wind Energy.

Inventions and Innovations

Stiesdal's initial work in the late 1970s and early 1980s contributed significantly to the development of the simple and robust technologies of the so-called Danish Concept, comprising upwind, automatic yawing and two-speed stall-regulated turbines with fail-safe safety systems. This concept is considered as the basis of the dominant position of the Danish wind industry through the following decades. In 1990, Stiesdal had overall responsibility for

Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm was the first offshore wind farm in the world, erected in 1991 off the coast of the town of Vindeby on the Danish island of Lolland. It was decommissioned for cost reasons in 2017 after 25 years of useful life. Histor ...

, the world's first

offshore wind farm Offshore wind power or offshore wind energy is the generation of electricity through wind farms in bodies of water, usually at sea. There are higher wind speeds offshore than on land, so offshore farms generate more electricity per amount of c ...

, including the first offshore adaptation of wind turbines. The wind farm had 11 Bonus 450 kW turbines, and was installed in 1991.Wittrup, Sanne.
Mr. Wind power celebrates anniversaryIn English
''

'', 20 April 2012. Accessed: 26 December 2014. From 1995 onwards, Stiesdal was responsible for the development of the proprietary IntegralBlade® manufacturing technology. In this manufacturing process, blades are cast in one piece, eliminating weak spots of known technologies.Rosendal, Sara.
His idea revolutionized Siemens' business In English
''

'', 19 February 2014. Accessed: 26 December 2014. In 1996, Stiesdal developed the CombiStall® blade regulation system which was fully implemented in the company's megawatt-range turbines. Two years later in 1998, Stiesdal designed the first variable-speed turbine for Bonus Energy A/S. The technology was tested commercially in 2002 and from 2005 onwards, it has been used in all of Siemens’ new products. From 1999 onwards, Stiesdal was in charge of the development of Siemens’ Direct Drive technology, eliminating the gearbox which is the classical weak spot of traditional wind turbine design. Stiesdal is involved in around 175 inventions, including

thermal storage Thermal energy storage (TES) is achieved with widely different technologies. Depending on the specific technology, it allows excess thermal energy to be stored and used hours, days, months later, at scales ranging from the individual process, ...

,Wittrup, Sanne.
Siemens will store power in giant sand bunker In English
''

'', 29 November 2014. Accessed: 26 December 2014.

pyrolysis The pyrolysis (or devolatilization) process is the thermal decomposition of materials at elevated temperatures, often in an inert atmosphere. It involves a change of chemical composition. The word is coined from the Greek-derived elements ''pyr ...

and other technologies, with an emphasis on simplicity and economy, rather than advanced technology. The TetraSpar floating platform for wind turbines, intended for

industrialization Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econom ...

, was installed with a standard 3.6 MW Siemens DD turbine at the first Hywind site in 2021.

Rewards

* Siemens awarded Stiesdal as the Inventor of the Year in 2008 and as Top-Innovator in 2010. * Henrik Stiesdal was awarded the

Poul la Cour Poul la Cour (13 April 1846 – 24 April 1908) was a Danish scientist, inventor and educationalist. Today la Cour is especially recognized for his early work on wind power, both experimental work on aerodynamics and practical implementation of wi ...

Prize of the European Wind Energy Association in 2011. * In 2012, the trade magazine Windpower Monthly declared Henrik Stiesdal as the 2nd most influential person in the wind industry. * In 2014 he received the German Renewables Award for Lifetime Achievements in Wind Energy. * In 2015 he received the Wind Turbine Award from the Danish Wind Turbine Owners' Association. * In 2019, the trade magazine Recharge gave its "Floating Wind Power Player of the Year" award to Stiesdal for his TetraSpar floating platform design for offshore wind turbines.

Private life

Henrik Stiesdal is married and has two daughters. He and his family live in Odense, Denmark.Maegaard, Preben; Krenz, Anna and Palz, Wolfgang (2013)
The Rise of Modern Wind Energy - Wind Power for the World
''CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group'', Boca Raton, 282.

References

External links

Hautmann, Daniel (2016) https://www.brandeins.de/magazine/brand-eins-wirtschaftsmagazin/2016/gesundheit/projekt-pyramide Weber, Tilman (2013)
Überraschend direkt
''fraunhofer.de'', 04/2013.
Csanyi, Edvard (2010)
Siemens Wind Turbine SWT-2.3-82
''EEP Electrical Engineering Portal'', 30 December 2010.
Quilter, James (2013)
Windpower TV - interview with Siemens CTO Henrik Stiesdal
''windpowermonthly.com'', 5 February 2013.
Carlin, P.W.; Laxson, A.S. and Muljadi, E.B. (2003)
The History and State of the Art of Variable-Speed wind Turbine Technology
''Wind Energ'', 2003, 6: 129-159.
Höpner, Axel; Hofer, Joachim (2010)

''wiwo.de'', 8 July 2010.
Press Picture

''Siemens AG'', 7 August 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stiesdal, Henrik 20th-century Danish inventors 1957 births Living people Chief technology officers People from Hørsholm Municipality University of Southern Denmark alumni 21st-century Danish inventors