Antarctica - Wind turbine for outpost undergoing trial

A wind turbine to drive down fuel costs at India's outpost on the Antarctica ice shelf is being put to trial at the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) at Sada, Vasco.

The Maitri' station in Antarctica currently has two small scale wind turbines operational, and should the new 6 KW wind turbine clear its trial, fuel costs borne at the station should be more than halved.

The wind turbine has been built by the United Kingdom-based Proven Energy, which has already installed eight wind turbines for The Polar Foundation', located in Antarctica at the Princess Elisabeth Station back in 2008.

According to Proven Energy, the idea behind installing the wind turbine in Goa is for trial purpose before relocating it to the Maitri' station. This will make it the third small scale wind turbine installed at the Maitri station.

The main aim is to save on fuel and make Maitri more environmentally friendly. Further, with installation of the 6KW wind turbine, the Maitri station would save about 60% on the total fuel costs.

The NCAOR, an autonomous research and development institution of the Department of Ocean Development (DOD), government of India and Ministry of Earth Sciences, has its headquarters at Vasco, Goa.

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