A new wind turbine concept to replace badly damaged Chicago windmills - wind-driven water pumpswhich have formed an intrinsic part of the Maltese rural landscape for many years, has been initiated by the Rural Affairs Ministry and the university. The construction of the first prototype turbine is nearing completion.

It consists of a 3.4-metre diameter nine-bladed rotor, a generator with a rating of 1.8 kilowatts and a 15 metre tall lattice tower.

In the coming months, it will be installed at the Government Experimental Farm at Ghammieri, where its performance will be tested under local climatic conditions.

The aim of the turbine is to replace the Chicago windmills, which used to be used by farmers for irrigation purposes.

According to the 2001 census on agriculture some 300 of these windmill pumps still exist across Malta and Gozo. Unfortunately, with the introduction of electricity generation technologies powered by fossil-fuels, many were abandoned and are now deteriorating.

The main aim of the project is to create a new wind turbine rotor design with a significantly higher aerodynamic efficiency than that of traditional wind mills, while at the same time retaining, as far as technically possible, the original visual characteristics of a multi-bladed rotor. The turbine will also produce electricity and be grid-connected, implying that it could provide clean energy for other purposes rather than for pumping water only.

The project, financed by the ministry, is being undertaken by the university's Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Faculty of Engineering with the involvement of academic staff and final year engineering students.