Wind Power...
Although wind is one of the oldest forms of mechanical power, it has suffered a relapse from the start of this century due to centralised energy infrastructures (the grid) and the proliferation of diesel generators. Recently due to emerging environmental concerns wind power is making a comeback particularly through the key innovations in the field of small-scale micro wind turbines.
It is a geographical fact that much of Africa lies within the equatorial belt which, due to the effects of atmospheric heating and the earth's rotation, has a lower wind resource compared to countries in more extreme latitudes. In the past this has been seen as a barrier to the development of a wind power industry across the continent. Despite the general lack of published wind data, Mozambique has a large 2,500km coastline making it ideally placed to benefit from the high atmospheric pressure build-up over land and sea masses causing localised coastal breezes. This makes the country’s coastline an ideal source for clean and renewable wind generation.
With the low level access to electricity in many rural areas of Mozambique wind energy is an excellent choice for isolated power supply. In this regard, we aim to demonstrate how this form of clean and sustainable energy can offer economic development opportunities and reduce poverty in rural areas by providing the vocational training and appropriate knowledge transfer in the field of harnessing wind power.
African Wind Map
20 May, 2010
