Tests are due to start soon on a prototype turbine developed by university engineering students aimed at replacing unused windmills in rural areas and enabling farmers to generate electricity for the national grid.
There are around 300 of the traditional windmills spread around the islands. Most of them are not being used to pump up water anymore as farmers have resorted to electrical pumps.
The project, financed by the Rural Affairs Ministry with a budget of €27,000, was undertaken by the University of Malta’s Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Faculty of Engineering. Academic staff and final year engineering students are involved.
The construction of the prototype is nearing completion and it will be set up at the government’s Għammieri Experimental Farm, where its performance will be tested under local climatic conditions.
Institute head Tonio Sant explained that the blades of the present windmills are approximately five per cent efficient for electricity production. The 3.4 metre diameter turbine, which has nine fibreglass blades, is expected to achieve 25 per cent efficiency because of the blades’ aerodynamic design.
According to a survey of windmills, 12 per cent of their towers are in a poor condition while the rest are in a reasonably good or fair condition. About 12 per cent of foundations are in a very bad state.
Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino, who saw the turbine working in a garage on campus where it was being built, said the concept originated from something similar seen abroad. He praised the students and their lecturers for the work.