Small Wind Turbines Optimization and Market Promotion

The main objective of the SWTOMP project is the promotion, development and implementation of the utilization of small and medium size wind turbines for isolated applications and for connection to weak grids, including the optimization of small/mediumscale wind turbines to meet local wind regimes and regional infrastructure requirements. Total duration of the Project is three years. The main expected results are:

• Promotion of the small/mediumscale wind turbines market in the countries participating in the project. All the partners in SWTOMP Project have a clear society orientation, being most of them public research and/or educational centers, perfectly valid to obtain this result.
• Development of new small wind turbines specifically designed for very cool and tropical environments. This is the most technological result of SWTOMP Project, where research centers and manufacturers are expected to work together to come up with two new SWT prototypes specifically designed for particular environments in LAC.
• Closer interregional links between R&D institutions, wind turbine manufacturers, policy makers and endusers.
• One of the main features of this Project is its Network conception. An effort has been made to include in the proposal as many partners and countries (9 in total!) as possible, giving the Project the added value of a space for knowledge and experience exchange, and also for strengthening links between groups and regions.

The identified areas selected in the Project in order to increase wind energy penetration are: weak and isolated grid integration issues and, mainly, the methodology to characterize wind resource for S&MWT applications, which is considered as one of the main barriers for their expansion at community level.