Historical Background

History of the Knowledge Centre WMC In 2000 the Knowledge Centre WMC started as "WMC-Group" in the Delft University of Technology doing quite a lot of full scale testing work on rotor blades. However, the test facility at Delft University of Technology became too small for the next generation of large rotor blades. Nowadays the industry produces blades up to 60 meters in length. So, in order to keep track with the market's needs we had to find another, larger location to continue our work.

Therefore a larger test facility was built in Wieringerwerf, in the northern part of the Netherlands where a new industrial site and yacht-basin "Waterpark Wieringermeer" is developed.

For our new laboratory we choose a location close to open water, on the borders of the IJsselmeer. Now the sometimes very large structures that come to us for testing, can also be transported by water. Other advantages for this location are: Our activities fit very well with the other activities on FRP structures (such as K3C) which take place in the same area and with the wind energy activities of ECN and we are close to the ECN Wind Turbine test site Wieringermeer (EWTW).

Starting 2003, as we moved from Delft to Wieringerwerf, the former "WMC-Group" of the Delft University of Technology continues its work as a new foundation with a new name: Knowledge Centre WMC, established by the Delft University of Technology and the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands ECN. With its links to both organisations the new Knowledge Centre can continue to combine fundamental and applied research on wind turbine and FRP structures.