After a one-kilowatt Hydro Turbine was destroyed by a hurricane in 2015 the residents of Imaki Village, Tanna Island, Vanuatu spent the next eight years generating a few hours of electricity a day from an old petrol generator – on hire.
That limited power was provided to a hospital and a school.
Donations of two advanced turbines, along with the water management infrastructure came from New Zealand specialist Eco Innovation; and the electronic devices needed for 24-hour power supply were funded by a US benefactor.
Groundwork laid by students and research fellows from the University of New South Wales students’ solar energy project: Énergie renouvelable Vanuatu, (UNSWERV) including a solar array, mini-grid cabling, and hydropower systems helped pave the way for today’s installation.
The power plant was then built by volunteer father-and-son team Edward and Michael Lawley (Eco Innovation) with support from Colm Franklin (Independent Power, NZ) and design help from Hugh Piggot (Scoraig Wind, UK).
They spent a busy week on location – overwhelmed by the support of 300 locals who energetically provided their labour in order to secure reliable power.
Hauling a thousand metres of 80mm polyurethane pipe through the jungle, carrying a ton of materials to site on their backs by wading uphill through the river, constructing a water course, installing the hydro generator, installing the power plant, and teaching the islanders how to maintain the installation themselves – was all achieved in eight days!
The power supply consists of:
- 2x SmartSolar MPPT RS 450/100 solar charge controllers. These high voltage charge controllers have been designed for larger solar arrays, and have multiple solar trackers. Their installation allows redundancy – by routing hydro and solar harvests through a single device if necessary, or for future expansion of either the solar panels or water turbines.
- The Solar Array offers 7.5kWp
- 2 x PLT 150V P hydro Turbines produce 1.8 kW. The water course is able to support more power generation.
- A Lithium battery bank storing 20kWh
- A Quattro Inverter/Charger can provide 10kVA of continuous output.
- A Cerbo GX communication centre device allows data communication between all components so that the sustainable power harvest, storage and supply is properly controlled. Real-time and historic system data can be viewed using the GX Touch 70 screen, which also provides access to system settings. GX LTE 4G which has been designed for exactly this kind of remote installation and allows remote monitoring by engineers from anywhere in the world using the Victron Remote Management portal (VRM).
- Lynx Distributor offers modular connection of covered busbars for a neat, safe installation area.
The new Hydro/Solar system reliably produces 60kWh per day which is distributed to a nearby hospital providing healthcare for thousands of islanders. The hospital now has lighting in every room, and a refrigerated storage facility for medicines.
The local school also has lighting in each of its 30 buildings – providing a suitable environment for learning.
The community kitchen is now powered by electricity – saving on the import and use of bottled gas, and providing energy security.
In fact, because the community is currently able to produce ten times more power than it has historically used, they’ve enhanced the island economy by commercial drying of crops such as coffee, ginger and taro, and they can freeze and store fish.
Let’s take a look at what’s been achieved:
