A new collapsible wind turbine developed at the Eindhoven University of Technology will be trialled at festivals over the remainder of the summer as an alternative to using diesel and petrol generators.
Wind power is increasingly contributing to powering the grid thanks to advances in technology, ongoing investment, and quality lubricants from Mobil distributors. Unfortunately, the remote location of a typical summer festival means organisers have no choice but to use their own generators, usually resulting in thousands, possibly even hundreds of thousands, of litres of petrol or diesel being used.
The new Green Energy Mill (GEM) can be transported by a small truck when collapsed and packed up. Once installed on site, it stands 21 metres tall with a wind turbine on the top. The tower itself is also clad on all sides with festively coloured solar panels, while the base includes a battery to store excess energy for later use. The developers believe that, subject to confirmation through testing, eight or nine of these devices may be enough to power a reasonably large festival.
The tower will first be tested at Pukkelpop in Belgium. Raf Verjans, the safety officer for the festival, said to Dutch news organisation NOS:
“We have a luxury campsite at Pukkelpop. We will try it out there. We will use it for the catering, the power supply in the different bars, and for the lighting. We quickly use 150 thousand litres of diesel, and there are few or no reliable alternatives.”