Did you know that for the price of an iPhone, it is now possible to buy a wind turbine designed by two Indian brothers?
And not just any!
This wind turbine is capable of generating enough electricity to power an entire home for a lifetime!
An Indian start-up, Avant Garde Innovations , designed a new low-cost wind turbine. It can generate up to 3 to 5 kW of electricity per day .
Shortly after taking office, the Chief Minister of Kerala (state in southern India) Pinarayi Vijayan, threw a stone into the pool of energy demand.
Vijayan has publicly spoken out in favor of a hydroelectric power project that threatens the famous Athirapilly Falls.
According to environmentalists, the implementation of such a project would lead to an imbalance in the ecosystem of the region.
It would destroy the Athirapilly Falls, the largest natural waterfalls in the state.
The government is aware of the environmental impact of this controversial project.
But he argues it is to meet the urgent demands of Kerala's growing energy crisis.
According to him, there is no other solution than to exploit its existing resources.
The state depends in part on the private sector to meet its energy needs. Other states in India face the same dilemma.
Indeed, Kerala's power grid now covers almost all of its territory.
But there are still many areas in India without any access to electricity .
Today, for a large part of the Indian population, electricity unfortunately remains a distant dream.
It was without counting on two brothers who want to make India's energy crisis a problem of the past.
The 2 brothers found a new solution. According to them, it will not have the slightest negative impact on the ecological balance of the region.
Avant Garde Innovations, the start-up created by brothers Arun and Anoop George , both from Kerala, designed a new wind turbine.
This can be produced at low cost and supply an entire house with electricity for a lifetime.
Not much bigger than a ceiling fan, this wind turbine can generate up to 5 kW per day .
And this for a one-off cost of only €665 (which is cheaper than a new iPhone).
Watch the presentation video on the Euronews channel:
Here is how the company Avant Garde Innovations defines its ambitions on its site:
“Our goal is to eliminate energy poverty, reduce energy dependence on outdated state networks and create energy self-sufficiency for the poor. And this, by the distribution of renewable energy at low cost and produced locally.
“By doing so, we believe we can collectively make the transition to a more environmentally friendly world, a world of economic prosperity and social change.
“Our first solution comes in the form of a small wind turbine. It is suitable for several types of uses:residential, commercial, agricultural, electrification of villages and many more.
"Its introduction to the market is planned for the course of 2016."
Founded in 2015, Avant Garde Innovations defines itself above all as a start-up with an eco-friendly heart and soul.
For the company, producing a low-cost wind turbine is a major project and has enormous potential.
India is the 6th largest consumer of energy in the world, representing 3.4% of global energy consumption.
Unfortunately, neither the Indian federal power nor the central administration have ever been able to bear the astronomical costs. These costs are nevertheless necessary for the extension of the electricity networks to the isolated villages of the country.
Indeed, installing electric poles and passing high voltage lines requires huge investments that can cost millions.
This is where the start-up Avant Garde Innovations provides a solution:
“A typical wind turbine that generates 1 kW of power costs between 3 and 700,000 Indian rupees (i.e. between 4,000 and 9,000 €).
"In comparison, we plan to sell our low-cost wind turbine for less than 50,000 rupees (665 €), explains Arun in an interview with Times of India .
“Furthermore, once our wind turbines are produced on a large scale, prices will continue to decline. .
It was at the start of the year that the start-up installed its first wind turbine.
It was in a church in the city of Thiruvananthapuram (capital of the state of Kerala).
According to Arun, the other advantage of their scaled-down prototype wind turbine is its highly variable capacity.
It can be adapted to networks with a capacity of 300 kW or more.
“Our greatest desire is to be able to offer innovative, sustainable and accessible solutions to everyone.
“We want to take renewable energy self-sufficiency to the next level.
And this through a decentralized and widely deployed network like we have never seen before,” explains Avant Garde Innovations.
This breakthrough product has already earned it a place in the Top 20 Green Tech Innovations in India.
The start-up is also in India's Top 10 Clean Energy Companies.
It is a clean energy investment project of more than a billion dollars led by the United Nations.
According to the Global Wind Energy Council (Global Wind Energy Council), India ranks 4th in terms of wind capacity in operation. She is fair
behind China, the United States and Germany.
Let's hope that the ambitions of Avant Garde Innovations will meet with success, and that these new wind turbines will contribute to preserving the ecosystem of the Athirappilly falls.
