Kigoma. Second Wind, a US-based company specialised in wind measurement systems that make wind power pay off for consumers, investors and the environment, is assisting Dartmouth College engineering students to determine whether winds in Kigoma Region can drive a turbine consistently and productively.
Second Wind has donated a Nomad 2 Wind Data Logger to the Dartmouth Humanitarian Engineering Project (DHE) to help determine whether winds can bring sustainable development to the region that has no reliable power supply.
"The turbine would provide electricity for tasks such as pumping water and charging cell phones and batteries for residents of Kigoma Region bordered by Lake Tanganyika and consisting mainly of small villages that aren't on electrical grids," the company announced on Friday.
It said that DHE would use local knowledge and the small body of existing wind data to select a prospective turbine location. Students will deploy the Nomad on the site for four to six months to aggregate data from wind measurement instruments.
In the programme, engineering students design appropriate technology solutions as part of their classwork. Student volunteers implement the solutions in the field.
DHE's first project in Kigoma was developing a cookstove that uses fuel more efficiently, emits fewer pollutants, and can be built by Kigoma residents from local materials. Other projects include an improved coffee stove for drying coffee beans with less fuel, and a composting latrine.
Giving the students experience with state-of-the-art wind measurement technology is also a valuable benefit of this project.
The Nomad 2 wind resource data logger compiles data from all industry-leading sensors and sends it to users through a wide range of remote communications options, including SkyServe Wind Data Service.
Second Wind surpassed its 10,000th shipment of the Nomad data logger in 2010. The units are deployed on seven continents, from the Arctic to Antarctica, with each unit compiling data from as many as 20 weather sensors.
The company's technology provides wind farm developers with the bankable wind data they need to plan, finance and operate highly efficient wind generation facilities. Second Wind's systems are making wind farm development profitable in 50 countries on seven continents.
