For the first time, before the actual conference, Wind Empowerment organised an 8-day series of hands-on manufacturing workshops with more than 100 participants from around the world. During the workshops hosted at NIWE’s warehouse and conference areas, the participants were instructed by Wind Empowerment trainers to construct all parts of a wind turbine, from blades and generator to tower and electronics. The non-patented designs by small wind expert Hugh Piggott were used to manufacture two wind turbines (800W and 500W), and open designs, developed by practitioners within the Wind Empowerment network, to construct a wooden tower, fiberglass blades, a water pumping system, a charge controller, a datalogger and modular power electronics. The constructed equipment was then assembled, bench tested, installed and field tested at NIWE’s Wind Turbine Test Station.

After the workshops, three days of conference and roundtables allowed representatives of wind energy from around the world to exchange their knowledge and delve deeper into technical and methodological discussions. This has been an opportunity to focus on technical details with major importance such as the height of the mast and the placement of the system and discuss a wide variety of topics: Standards, Testing and Quality Control, Micro-Grid opportunities, Distributed power electronics, Productive uses, Market Assessment and Sustainability Assessment of small wind turbines for rural development amongst others. On this occasion, international projects were also presented, such as experiences from Nepal, France, Tanzania, Peru and Argentina.

International interest

The workshops and conference were attended by more than 150 participants from 40 different countries. Many of them were foreign government representatives, from each country’s Ministry of Energy or National Electrification Agency, who were invited by the Secretary of the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to participate, as well as representatives from NGOs, universities, entrepreneurs, students from the renewable energy sector and enthusiasts.

The different rates of access to electrification between countries generate different interests for participation in these conferences. For countries with high electrification, it is an environmental issue to develop or initiate renewable energies.

The stakes are different for countries with low electrification rates. The small wind turbine represents a solution for isolated sites on the one hand for its relatively simple implementation, on the other hand because it is a source of clean energy. The participants from these countries have a strong interest in wind energy and this workshop and conference has only increased the desire to get started, but several obstacles have been highlighted. Apart from the economic brakes, the wind is still unknown in comparison to solar energy and the lack of expertise is a problem for the installation and maintenance. Moreover, it is necessary to make a preliminary study of places where small wind can be installed, to have a map of the winds of the country, all this requires time. The conference has contributed to the improvement of knowledge in the wind field for each country and also made for exchanges between the different countries and also with the Wind Empowerment network.

Future partnerships

These two intense weeks have been rich in information, generating great interest and momentum among participants. Nehemia Rong, tomato and pepper producer from Manipur (North East India), leaves with the idea of installing a wind turbine for his farm. José Armando Gastelo-Roque from Peru does research at the university and works at WAIRA (which means "wind" in Quechua), a company working on renewable energies. Sebastian Ochoa from Colombia works in a company generating energy from biogas. Both would like to set up a Wind Empowerment project in their respective countries.

On Tuesday, February 26, Nexus for Development invites social entrepreneurs delivering sustainable energy, water, and sanitation solutions to attend a full-day of peer-to-peer learning and training sessions on advanced financial topics. Attendees will benefit from increased financial readiness and knowledge exchange on best business practices prior to looking at the wider context during the workshop the next day.

Social Enterprises may register here.

On Wednesday, February 27, Nexus for Development and the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) will host a knowledge sharing workshop for social entrepreneurs, financiers and intermediaries. The day will include the launch of both Nexus’ new Finance Solutions Mapping and ANDE’s Myanmar Ecosystem Snapshot.

Financiers and intermediaries may register here. Social Enterprises may register here for both days of the workshop.

Visit Nexus' event page on Facebook: Leveraging Innovative Finance Together

This workshop is one of our recent SEPS exchange activities: Exchange: Demand-Side Solutions to Financing Sustainable Energy in Southeast Asia

Recently, Fundación EcoAndina delivered five training courses at their CEDIERA Centre and facilitated a number of guided visits to a technology park. These events attracted nearly two hundred participants, most of whom were technical students from three renewable energy institutes in and around San Salvador. Furthermore, the project team hosted conferences and open dialogues at the National University, which were attended by 170 participants.

Another highlight of the recent activities associated with this SEPS Exchange was the participation in the International Arts Festival Corazón Andino, an enchanting festival of arts and sustainability which took place for the first time in the Jujuy Province, raising awareness of renewable energy technologies among local citizens.

As a step towards empowering highland communities, EcoAndina visited the municipalities of Humahuaca, Abra Pampa and La Quiaca and discussed with officials the local situation concerning access to energy and possible future renewable energy projects in the Andean highlands.

In order to transfer years of field experience from an NGO to the creation of academic curricula, EcoAndina organised meetings with four institutes of technical education in Jujuy. National institutions, as well as regional and local authorities, recognise and value EcoAndina's work and invited them to contribute their experiences to an upcoming public discussion.