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ural Peru is home to millions of

people who live their lives without

access to electricity and for most,

the possibility of the national grid reaching

them is not on the horizon. The solution

could come in the form of micro generation,

and for us (Volunteer WindAid) this meant

the installation of small-scale wind power.

Founded in 2010, the aim of Volunteer

WindAid is to use wind energy to provide

electricity to communities in Peru who

currently have no access to the national

electricity grid. The NGO also aims to

promote the use of renewable and

appropriate technologies as a solution to

energy generation in Peru.

The completed volunteer wind turbine

as installed in Nuevo Manzanilla

The volunteer program

July 2010 saw Volunteer WindAid host 12

volunteers from six different countries, all of

whom came to Peru to learn and participate

in an exciting and new wind energy project.

The aim of the 5-week program was for the

volunteers to work together in Trujillo to

build a wind turbine for the community of

Nuevo Manzanilla, situated in the mountains

near Cajamarca in the north of Peru. The

community is home to 250 people, who

make their living from producing milk and

have no access to the national electricity grid

due to their remote location.

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The volunteers spent the first four weeks of

the program eager to learn about wind

energy and busily building the wind turbine

in the Trujillo based workshop. Together, we

manufactured and assembled the complete

wind turbine, including a unique tail logo

design to commemorate the volunteers

taking part.

For us, the climax of the program came in

the final week, where we lived with families

in the community whilst the wind turbine

was being installed. The community proved

to be incredible hosts, offering us the tastes

of local food and even the chance to join in

with the annual celebrations of San Lorenzo.

At the end of the project we were left

breathless (well who wouldn’t be at 4000m

altitude!) as we partied away into the night

with lights on and music blaring. This whole

experience not only gave us the chance to

bond with the community for who we built

the wind turbine, but also to appreciate life

without electricity for a short period and see

first hand the immediate impact the wind

turbine would have in the community.

Environmental awareness

The community of Nuevo Manzanilla is very

conscious of the financial and environmental

benefits of renewable technologies and their

effort to obtain electrification was never a

case of using diesel generators. One family

currently use a small solar panel to provide

light and charge small batteries, whilst a few

other community members are very keen on

using solar ovens for cooking.

The wind turbine

was built in Trujillo

by the volunteers

The wind turbine

generates electricity

for the school building

The wind turbine is now

a leading example of how

to generate e lectr ic ity

whilst protect ing the

environment the

community rely on for

their l ivel ihoods.

Community benefits

Along with the wind turbine, we also installed

electrics into the school building. This

comprised of lights and plug sockets for each

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of the four rooms, allowing the community

school to now make use of televisions and

computers for the school children and

enabling the community to use the building

in the evenings.

The amount of energy available to the

community is much greater than the school

building requires so there is scope for the

community to further extend the

electricification to the surrounding houses

and buildings in the future, allowing more

people to benefit from the wind turbine.

This new expansion of lights will allow

people to work safely and more productively

in the night.

Already, the community has plans to begin a

battery recharging station for the local

people, saving both time and money in

comparison to the previous necessary trip to

the nearest town of San Marcos (a 5 hour

journey on the lechera – milk truck). This

recharging station will enable more people in

the community to use batteries and have

electricity in their homes, whilst at the same

time generate revenue for the community to

maintain the wind turbine into the future.

Members of the community

installed the wind turbine

alongside the volunteers

The wind turbine

The installed wind turbine is rated at

2,000W and has a peak output of 2,500W.

The wind turbine has a blade diameter of

4m and a tower height of 9m. Based on the

measured wind speeds at the site, the wind

turbine is estimated to generate 6 kWh/day

for the community, thus, coupled with the

bank of batteries, has enough energy to

power the installed electrics in the school for

over 4 days. The wind turbine should

continue to generate clean electricity for the

community for the next 15 years.

The project was funded by the participating

volunteers, who each paid a contributing fee

to the cost of building the wind turbine.

For more information please visit

www.windaid.org or contact James Low at

James@windaid.org.

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