Exchange: “Where the Winds Meet” – Local Construction of Small Wind Turbines in Última Esperanza, Chile

The activity will be carried out in Puerto Natales, in the region of Magallanes in southern Chile. Around 6% of the region’s population live in rural settlements with no reliable connection to the electricity grid. Despite the region’s abundant wind resources, rural settlements still depend on electricity that is generated almost exclusively by diesel, gasoline or natural gas engines. 

The main activities are two workshops, the first of which will be led by an Argentinian expert and will result in the construction and installation of one demonstration turbine at a farm, as well as capacity-building through training. The second workshop will be led by Chilean experts from the local technical school, Liceo Politecnico, who will have been trained during the first workshop. The second workshop will be integrated into the technical school’s curriculum, while the first workshop will target a broader group of community members with high potential to apply and replicate the self­construction experience.
The specific objectives of this exchange activity are:

• To plan and prepare the two workshops and select the participants
• To conduct the two workshops, including dissemination activities
• To construct and install two small wind turbines

The project will be led by Asociación Ciudadana Última Esperanza. The project duration is eleven months, starting in June 2016.