Second Wind has donated a Nomad 2 Wind Data Logger to the Dartmouth Humanitarian Engineering Project (DHE) to help determine whether winds in Tanzania’s Kigoma region can drive a wind turbine consistently and productively. The turbine would provide electricity for tasks such as pumping water and charging cell phones and batteries for residents of Kigoma, an inland region of Tanzania bordered by Lake Tanganyika and consisting mainly of small villages that aren’t on electrical grids.

“Western Tanzania doesn't have much in terms of recorded wind data, and the terrain is variable throughout the region,” said Molly Wilson, one of the student volunteers. “We are assessing wind velocity as well as direction, and are also quite curious about the seasonal variations as data from some areas show strong seasonal correlations coinciding with the rainy and dry seasons.”

DHE will use local knowledge and the small body of existing wind data to select a prospective turbine location. Students will deploy the Nomad on the site for four to six months to aggregate data from wind measurement instruments. DHE students will collect the data and use it to decide whether to go ahead with wind turbine construction.