E.W Golding was born in Northwich, Cheshire in 1902 and was educated at the Manchester College of Technology graduating with a BSc in Electrical Engineering. After graduating from college, Golding worked for the Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Company in their research department. Following this, Golding assumed a position at Nottingham University as a lecturer in electrical engineering. He was in this position for 19 years between 1926 and 1945. Golding was appointed to the newly formed Rural Electrification and Wind Power Department of the Electrical Research Association (ERA) in 1945 and was later named the head in 1948. The ERA was a private organization, founded in 1920, that was funded by the UK government via the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research to conduct co-ordinated and co-operative electrical related research.
In 1949, Golding, alongside his colleague Arthur Stodhart at the ERA, produced a report on the potential for using small wind machines to generate electricity as part of a series of reports on rural electrification. Golding expanded his research in 1953 when he published two papers that promoted the possibility of their being large scale wind power plants built in Britain, as well as the stages of development for of large-scale wind turbines. However, it was in 1955 where Golding produced his most influential publication on wind power, with the book ‘The generation of electricity by wind power.’ This dealt with important matters of using wind power to generate electricity like the matter of selecting suitable wind sites using wind surveys and the economy of wind power in relation to large public supply networks and isolated communities. Golding’s book remains relevant today. In 1956 Golding received an OBE from the British Government for his services as the Head of Department of Rural Electrification and Wind Power at the ERA. Golding later died in June 1965.
Sources
The generation of electricity by wind power – E.W Golding, 1956
Edward Golding’s Influence on Wind Power – T.J Price in Wind Engineering, Volume 29, No. 6, 2005