New construction and reconstruction of traditional wind energy plants

KÖSTER began with the manufacture of wind energy plants, of which literally thousands were built and supplied worldwide up to Second World War, more than a 100 years ago. They help to create the background for idyllic scenes in many cowboy films. In Germany they still represent technical monuments of the first order as well as being tourist attractions. 

KÖSTER has not only restored historical pumping stations (e.g. Kachlin in Usedom and Lobbe on the Island of Rügen) but also erected a new plant within the framework of the international construction exhibition “Emscherpark” (IBA) in the Duisburg North Landschaftspark (landscape park). 

Following the idea and blueprint by Professor Latz, a wind energy plant with a propeller diameter of 17 m - including a 22 m high structural steel tower - was mounted on a coke breaker in the old Thyssen steelworks in Duisburg Nord, which have been shut down to become a protected monument. This pumping station (structure or work of art?) creates, at an overall height of almost 50 m, a landmark at the IBA comparable with the Tetraeder in Bottrop or the Gasometer in Oberhausen. 

The water pumped out of the Emscher canal is pumped back in free-fall and thus enriched in oxygen. Unlike the wind energy plants presently being built for producing electricity, here one can still admire and experience the technology involved: the interaction between aerodynamics, mechanical power transmission and the hydraulics of the pump’s drive system.