What was the name of the first wind turbine to generate more than 1 megawatt of electricity, installed in Vermont in 1941?

The Smith–Putnam wind turbine was the first wind turbine to generate more than 1 megawatt of electricity, installed in Vermont in 1941.

Designed by Palmer Cosslett Putnam and funded by S. Morgan Smith Company, the turbine was erected on Grandpa's Knob near Castleton, Vermont. Its two-bladed rotor measured about 53 metres across, enormous for its era, and its rated capacity was 1.25 megawatts.

The machine began operating in 1941 and supplied electricity to the Central Vermont Public Service grid. A blade failed in 1945 after the turbine had accumulated substantial operating time, and the project was not rebuilt. The failure reflected the difficulty of designing large fatigue-resistant blades with the materials and engineering knowledge then available.

The Smith–Putnam turbine is distinct from the smaller Gedser turbine in Denmark, which became influential in the 1950s. Although Smith–Putnam was not commercially successful, its scale anticipated the megawatt-class wind turbines used many decades later.