A group of local craftsmen and technicians have manufactured a wind turbine, capable of generating 500 watts of electricity. Named “Volta Breeze”, the turbine, when erected, can power a table-top fridge, a television set, a blender, a radio set and about five Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL) at the same time.

The artisans were brought together by Rural Energy and Environment Systems (REES), a local organisation that aims at providing cheap sources of power to rural folk, and Enterprise Works, an international non-governmental organisation. The turbine has been replicated about three times and is currently being used in Alorkple in the Dangme East District, a rural community near Asutsuare; and Kpenu, a village in the Volta Region.

The Head of the Renewable Energy Unit of the Ministry of Energy, Mr Wisdom Ahiataku-Togobo, told the Daily Graphic that the 17 artisans used local materials to manufacture the turbine. He said they were offered some training by Mr Hugh Piggot of Scoraig Wind Electric of the United Kingdom and added that in preparation for the training, Enterprise Works and Scoraig Wind Electric visited local markets to purchase the materials needed to manufacture the turbine.

He said aside from high-strength magnets, which are imported from China, all other components were local. Mr Ahiataku-Togobo said the manufacture of the turbine was an important milestone for a country where nearly half of the population lacked access to the national grid. He added that locally made wind turbines were the most sustainable and commercially viable option for providing electricity to rural “off-grid” communities in Ghana with suitable wind conditions.

He noted that the turbine could be of immense help to rural clinics that, due to lack of electricity, could not store vaccines in refrigerators. Mr Ahiataku-Togobo said plans existed for the replication of the turbine on a large scale by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) but the lack of financial resources had held that project back.

He said the country had good wind speed to power the wind turbines and added that the argument in the past that Ghana could not depend on wind energy because it did not have good wind speed had been proven to be false.

For more information, please contact Trevor Sievert at ts@windfair.net