Jengging village, Arunachal Pradesh, which is in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains, for example, was electrified with wind turbines in 1988. Due to the rugged terrain in the area it is doubtful that utility lines would ever be brought to Jengging.

In Morocco the government, with the support of US-AID, is using wind-electric pumping systems to replace diesel powered pumps that are too expensive for the local people to operate. In the Naima Rural Commune, near Oujda in northeast Morocco, two 10 kW wind turbines are supplying four villages with several times the water volume previously pumped by diesels. The villagers prefer the wind turbines both because they deliver more water and because they cost nothing to operate.

In China, over 100,000 locally produced small wind turbines, 10 megawatts of nameplate capacity, have been installed in Inner Mongolia in the last seven years

Wind power is very competitive with photovoltaics, biomass, and diesel generators, but is usually more expensive than micro-hydro

roviding a least cost approach under certain conditions. This expands the scope of potential projects, pointing to the day when decentralized electrification projects will be implemented on the same scale as current grid extension projects

A wind turbine can actually be much simpler than a diesel engine. They also require substantially less attention and maintenance. Our turbines, for example, have only three moving parts and do not require any regular maintenance. They can operate for extended periods, five years or more, without any attention. Our latest unit, the 1.5 kW BWC 1500, is designed for Village Level Operation and Maintenance (VLOM), following guidelines established by the World Bank. With training and spare parts, local users can support the wind turbine equipment they use.

particularly competitive in cost for sizes above 250 watts

kilowatt-hour per day a wind turbine will be less expensive than diesels, grid extension, or photovoltaics for virtually any wind resource above 4 m/s (9 mph). This wind resource is available in most of the developing world. For larger daily load requirements the economics of wind power get progressively better. For a 10 kW wind turbine a wind resource of only 3.5 m/s (7.2 mph) will usually make wind the least cost option. There are not many areas of the world that have average wind speeds below 3.5 m/s (7.2 mph).

Thus, much of the available wind resource data from developing countries underestimates the actual resource available in rural areas. Macro-scale data and analytical methods are now available that can be used to check historical data for reasonableness. Accurate wind resource assessment is a major impediment to large scale implementation of wind power in many developing countries.

there is a clear benefit to the project from using advanced U.S. environmental technology.  Is this typical of other donor agencies? Many other international donor agencies take a much more pro-active role in introducing renewable energy systems in developing countries and facilitating technology transfer. European countries, in particular, have shown how donor agencies and industry can work together to bring the benefits of renewable energy to the world's poor. This often makes it difficult for U.S. companies to compete in developing country markets even when they have superior technology. Fortunately, the situation at US-AID is changing as environmental concerns increase and US-AID's awareness of modern renewable energy technologies, including small wind turbines, improves. How can I get more information? We would be happy to send you further information on small wind turbines for developing countries or answer any of your questions. Just call or write to Bergey Windpower Co. at the address below. You can also get further information on wind energy and its use in developing countries from the American Wind Energy Association (202-383-2500) or their web site: http://www.awea.org  You can learn more about the programs of the U.S. Agency for International Development at http://www.us-aid.govBergey Windpower Co., 2200 Industrial Blvd., Norman, OK 73069 USA T: 405-364-4212, F: 405-364-2078  BWC was formed in 1977 and has been manufacturing small wind turbines since 1980. BWC wind turbines have been installed in all 50 states and approximately 90 countries.