Continuing with the series of “wind energy stories” from around the world, in association with Global Wind Day, Robert van Waarden travels to Nepal to meet Aruna Awale at the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre.

“I have seen a bright future for wind energy in Nepal, because a lot of wind energy potential has been predicted,” says Aruna Awale, an employee of the wind energy department at the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) in Kathmandu, Nepal.

From the window of her office, she can see one of the few operating wind turbines in Nepal. It is a small Maglev vertical axis turbine and it turns rapidly in the wind that blows through the Kathmandu valley. It is a sign of more to come if Awale has anything to do with it.

Awale works on data and implementation projects, co-ordinates meetings and conferences, and meets with national and international stakeholders when she works with the AEPC. She credits her experience at the AEPC for giving her more confidence and a huge amount of unique experience. She especially enjoys the opportunity to travel internationally for seminars, the highlight of which for her is often a visit to a wind farm.

Nepal faces several problems in the implementation of large-scale wind energy, but interestingly, one of those isn’t finance, as many development banks, institutions, and companies are ready to step forward.  Instead Awale mentions the complex geography and the insufficient infrastructure as the main challenge. The small roads, or entire lack thereof, are often not suited for carrying large equipment to high windy points. The spectacular but difficult geography makes studies and installations more difficult. In order to fully grow in this energy sector, this challenge will have to be overcome.

Ms. Awale thinks one way to do that is to start smaller. Citing an implemented pilot project by the Asian Development Bank, Ms. Awale remains confident that wind energy will have a great impact on small communities in Nepal. In the Dhaubadi BDC of Nawalparasi District, 46 households are now connected to electricity by a small wind turbine. This has transformed the village and made it the envy of neighbouring villages: now everyone wants a wind turbine.

“With small-scale wind energy, thousands of villages can benefit from wind power where no energy is available, not even for lights.” says Ms. Awale.

Ms. Awale has been working with the AEPC for almost a decade and hopes to see some of the available 3,000 MW potential in Nepal developed, recognising that it will change the life of many of her fellow Nepalis. For many of them, the answer to electricity problems and some of the attached poverty issues may simply be blowing in the wind.

 Every picture tells a story – what is yours? Tell us what you think about wind energy by taking part in the Global Wind Day 2013 photo competition to win a €1,000 Amazon voucher and get the chance to be published on this blog.

North Hoyle offshore wind farm

While this blog frequently focusses on wind power reporting in national-level newspapers, the regional-level or local newspaper does not get as much attention as it perhaps merits.

Last month I was in North Wales – a coastline which is home to the UK’s first large scale offshore wind farm called North Hoyle. It currently has one other operating offshore wind farm – Rhyl Flats, and a massive development is underway further out to sea at Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm which, when completed in 2013, is set to provide electricity to cover nearly one-third of homes in Wales.

There is, of course, local opposition. On this particular stretch of coastline the opposition group is called Save Our Scenery – slightly ironic given that the new offshore farm is 18 km offshore and will be frequently out of vision thanks to the often dense banks of Welsh cloud.

Much of the emphasis on green living today is all about scaling down: own a bike and not a SUV, for example. But when it comes to wind turbines a new study has found that the reverse is true: bigger turbines are better for the environment.

Since the founding of EWEA some 30 years ago (read more about our 30^th anniversary here and look out for a special edition of Wind Directions magazine in September) turbine technology has been transformed. In 1982, turbine manufacturers were building 55kW turbines; today typical onshore turbines are around 3 MW, with the largest onshore turbines reaching a powerful 7 MW.

The winter is fast approaching and so is the end of EWEA’s 2010 campaign to get as many turbines adopted across Europe as possible. So far, over 3,000 of you have adopted a turbine and more than 4,000 of you have voted in our competition to win a trip to a wind farm.

Spain is the leading country with over 400 turbines adopted, just trailed by Italy with 375 adoptions. The UK has 348 turbines adopted, while France is just under with 341 adoptions.

With two top prizes available – a weekend break in Copenhagen including a visit to a wind farm and a two-day break in the Swiss Jura Mountains including a trip to a wind farm and a snow-shoe tour if it snows – it is not surprising that the voting contest has taken off with a bang. Some turbine adopters have managed to gather over 400 votes putting them in good stead for the prizes.

If you still haven’t adopted your very own turbine, there’s plenty of time to do so – by the end of December 2010. Give yourself the chance to win one of the two trips abroad by encouraging all your friends and family to vote for your turbine. Visit our campaign website and adopt now!

Wind power received another high-profile vote of confidence recently in Ohio, USA with the news that a Toyota car dealership has decided to power part of its commercial enterprise with wind energy.

George Kauffman, vice president of George Byers and Sons, told a local television station he hopes the dealership’s 25-metre-tall wind turbine sets an example for other businesses that also want to mitigate their environmental footprints.

“It’s the future of how our children are going to live, it’s going to lower our carbon footprint and keep it a better, cleaner world for everyone,” Kaufman was quoted as saying by 10TV.