Inauguration of the new National Wind Tunnel

Quoting Bob Dylan during his comments, the Prince said: ‘The answer is blowin’ in the wind—no, the answer is the wind’, said the prince in his speech before cutting the red ribbon which marked the official inauguration of the Poul La Cour Wind Tunnel at DTU Risø Campus.

In his address, DTU President Anders Bjarklev mentioned, among other things, how special the new wind tunnel is. Not only because it is one of the biggest university-owned tunnels in the world, or because the combination of test options makes the wind tunnel one of a kind. Its name, too, makes it very special.

“Generally, DTU doesn’t name or number its buildings. However, Poul la Cour was an exceptional man. He was a pioneer. That’s why the name Poul la Cour Tunnel is such a fitting tribute to Denmark’s first wind turbine pioneer,” Anders Bjarklev explained in his speech.

In use by September

Although the wind tunnel has already been inaugurated, it will be a few months yet before the wind tunnel can be put to serious use. A few more tests need to be run before the industry can really start using the wind tunnel.

The wind tunnel has been in the works for a number of years, at a cost of EUR 11,5 million (DKK 85 million). Contributions were received from the Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education (UFM) in the amount of EUR 5,3 million, with EUR 537,000 from Region Zealand, while DTU paid EUR 5,5 million.