Turbines Bring Light to Peruvian Village

In northern Peru, families illuminate their houses using candles and kerosene lamps. These small flickers of light have often been extinguished by the strong winds that blow through the area. Now, that same wind is being used to power 20 households in the community of Alumbre, using turbines installed by Green Empowerment and our local partner, Soluciones Practicas-ITDG. Community members in Alumbre are the pioneers with this new technology, and their experiences with micro wind power will serve as a pilot project that can be replicated in the future. Newly developed wind turbines, locally produced in Peru, are sized to provide energy to one family home. The compact turbine size makes installation easier in remote areas and eliminates the need for costly transmission lines associated with larger wind systems. Soluciones Practicas-ITDG, the non-profit that is implementing the project, and engineers from Ingeniera Sin Fronteras and the Universidad de Cataluña, are working on improving the design and precision manufacturing for use in future projects. Other isolated off-grid communities throughout the Cajamarca region of Peru are being identified as future recipients of wind power.