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| Sunday, 27 January 2002 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Winds of power by Rohan Senarath
Supplying electricity for the country's requirement has become a difficult task for the Ceylon Electricity Board today. Although a number of proposals have been suggested by the CEB, due to various reasons, these plans could not take off the ground. Currently only 57 per cent of the households in the country have access to electricity. Therefore as many as 43 per cent of our own people still depend on fossil fuel (kerosine) to light their homes during night. Even if adequate supply is available, only 80 per cent of the population could receive electricity. This is mainly due to commercial viability of the electricity supply projects. As people are scattered in rural areas, transmission of electricity through cables has become a completely uneconomic solution. As CEB operates and maintains a centralized supply system, it may be technically arduous to focus on a regional base supply system. It is also a fact that peak power demand in Sri Lanka occurs during nights. This is a common indicator in all developing countries compared to the developed countries. In most developed countries, the peak demand is during daytime. The reason, is that industrialized countries use more electricity in production, than in household consumption. Hence industrial countries operate full capacity supply during daytime and at nights only base loads are maintained. Whereas in non-industrial developing countries this scenario takes a reverse situation. The peak demand is observed at night-commonly from 6 to 10 p.m. The country has now arrived at a critical situation. At this point it would be a good thing to seriously consider the use of alternative resources, to cater to our electricity needs. Generating electricity by freely available wind is a positive answer to power shortage. But generating electricity through wind is only possible in certain geographical areas of our country. Dutch communities in the Netherlands used wind energy to supplement their power requirements for various activities in the fifteenth century. They used windmills to lift rainwater from one elevation to another and then pump it out to the sea. As certain parts of the Netherlands are situated below the sea level, these windmills served an enormous purpose for their country. In addition to rainwater lifting, these windmills were used in grain milling, blacksmith industry, paint manufacturing and many other industrial businesses during the 16th century. Unfortunately, due to invention of fossil fuel in the world, research and developed of wind energy usage has taken a back stage during the past decade.But now the world is concentrating on using this freely available energy source again in supplementing people's needs. While world interest in wind energy application is growing, ITDG South Asia commenced its research and development in fabricating a suitable small wind generator to produce electricity. The Small Wind System project was launched inline with the key objective of improving livelihoods and socio-economic conditions of rural poor. Hence this project was aimed mainly to develop stand-alone power generating systems for rural underprivileged communities. As a result of this intervention, the project managed to develop a Small Wind System to generate 200w power, and late it was improved up to 250w power. It was designed to store the energy in a battery bank and invert int alternative current (AC) to use for lighting and serving other purposes. The generator of this small wind system is manufacturing by using permeate magnets. Only permeate magnets are importing and all the other required material is locally available for manufacturing this unit. Sri Lanka receives winds from southwestern and northeastern monsoons. The northeastern monsoon appears from end December to beginning March of the year. Southwestern monsoons appear from end May to beginning October of the year. In between these periods, inter-monsoon periods occur and sufficient average wind speeds are available to operate small wind systems. The wind system turns on its vertical axis to meet the varying wind directions instantaneously. ITDG South Asia installed its first three pilot projects in Hambantota district. These three pilot projects were installed in a rural village named Usgala in Sooriyawewa Divisional Secretary's area. Three underprivileged families have been selected to receive benefit of these units. Each household uses six to eight CFL bulbs nearly four to five hours' electricity during nights. They also receive power to operate their 12" B & W televisions and radio cassette recorders. With the last one year's data collection in the pilot project areas, the windmill performance is quite satisfactory. Beneficiary groups (village householders) are satisfied about the service as they only experienced about three days without electricity. They say even that could have been averted if they used the battery bank storage economically.One family had used the power storage economically and enjoyed electricity throughout the year. The machine produces its peak power when speeds rise up to nine meters per second. As we know, every machine has its advantages and disadvantages. The wind system is 100 per cent environment-friendly and the fuel to operate this machine is free of charge. But wind is an unpredictable source of energy unlike hydro and solar. A behaviour of wind is highly sophisticated. It is possible to utilize wind energy in every location in Sri Lanka. Especially it is viable in southern, northern and eastern regions almost throughout the year, despite two to three months of low-average wind flow. Leading on from the interventions of ITDG South Asia sponsored projects, the manufacturer fabricated and installed another 14 units in the same geographical locations of the Hambantota district. Out of which, six small wind systems have been installed in a rural village in Kirinda. This wind farm consists of six 250w stand-alone units and is installed on the crest of a rock in Kirinda shore. This project is a concept of a local non-governmental organization and supported by funding of the UNDP/GEF small grant programme. ITDG South Asia provided technical assistance to identify of the UNDP/GEF small grant programme. ITDG South Asia provided technical the location and manufacture of six units to suit the salty and gusty wind conditions of the site. The Kirinda Wind Farm generates a cumulative power output of 1.5 kw and is currently serving the needs of seven rural underprivileged families nearby. The writer is Programme Manager - Energy ITDG South Asia. |
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