Small wind turbine manufactured and installed in Kythnos by NTUA students
During the month of October 2022, a small wind turbine manufacturing workshop was organised by the Smart grids Research Unit of the Electric Energy Systems Laboratory of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the NTUA, in cooperation with the Laboratory of Aerodynamics of the School of Mechanical Engineering of the NTUA, the Rural Electrification Research Group (RurERG), the Wind Empowerment association and the RE-EMPOWERED project.
During the one-week workshop, electrical and mechanical engineering students formed working groups in order to build the small wind turbine from scratch, using simple tools, materials and fabrication techniques. Wood was used for the blades, steel for the mounting frame and plywood for the tail, copper wire for the coils and neodymium magnets cast in resin for the generator's stator and rotor. During a follow up workshop in December 2022, a 12m high tilt up guyed tower was manufactured at the NTUA for the installation of the small wind turbine, with the participation of students from the electrical and mechanical engineering schools. During the workshop the students manufactured the steel pipe tower, its foundations, its base and anchors.
The locally manufactured small wind turbine and tower were installed in December 2022 at the demo site of Gaidouromantra on Kythnos island, along with project partner DAFNI, as part of the RE-EMPOWERED project. During the installation workshop, Smart RUE researchers and DAFNI staff, along with students from the mechanical engineering school of the NTUA, marked the footprint of the tower on the site, placed the tower anchors and concrete blocks, installed the tower and guy wires, raised the small wind turbine, and connected it to the local microgrid of Gaidouromantra. As a result of these activities, a ‘Small Wind Turbine Team’ has been formed at the NTUA, which welcomes students interested in implementing such wind energy projects.
Technical data of the manufactured small wind turbine: Rotor Diameter 4.3 m - Rated Power 3 kW - Rated Wind Speed 10 m/s - Hub Height 12 m - Mean Wind Speed 4.6 m/s - Annual Energy Production 4450 kWh/year.
