Construction project taps wind energy

Rajil Menon

The first phase of the Golden Park housing project in Kalyan in Thane district ended about two years ago. By then the builder was fed up with the irregular power supply that had escalated the cost and delayed the project. Now, it is the residents who face the ordeal of seven to eight hours of erratic power cuts daily.

The Maharashtra state electricity distribution company is of little help. The second phase of the project—eight 13-storey buildings on about 14,000 sq m—faces no such problems; the builder expects to finish it by the end of this year. He is no longer at the mercy of the state electricity distribution company.

“Thanks to the windmill we installed, our construction is going on in full swing,” said Deepak Dedhia who builds skyscrapers in Mumbai and suburbs. The windmill is up and running since April 1 this year and generates 15 kW of power everyday.

The power is used to run machinery and elevators. The windmill can generate enough power to run two elevators of a 12-storey building and 55 tubelights everyday. “Despite power cuts, our work goes on uninterrupted,” he said. “Although wind power is erratic as it depends on availability of wind, it is more reliable than the supply of the electricity distribution company.”

The April 1 surprise

“I save over Rs 20,000 per month on electricity. Earlier, I would pay Rs 25,000-30,000 per month,” said Dedhia who belongs to Bhuj in Gujarat. “During my visits home, windmills on the way caught my attention.   

Last year, I decided to install one and generate my own power,” he said.

The decision made, Dedhia and his younger brother spoke to several Chinese companies but none of them accepted the proposal to erect a windmill. Finally, a company dealing in power conditioning systems in Pune agreed.

“On April 1 this year, we had our surprise ready. We introduced the windmill, which is unheard of in the construction sector,” said Smita Mehta, who has been working with Dedhia for the past 15 years. No special permission was required because the windmill weighs less than 500 kg. Dataguard, the Pune company installed the windmill and Lumen Industries in Kalyan provided the charger in which the electricity generated is stored and utilized during power cuts.

The windmill is installed on top of a water tank on a 13-storey building. It comprises a turbine, three blades that are three metres long each and a six-metre-long pole. A battery is attached to the wind turbine.

At Rs 10 lakh

After the second phase is over, the windmill would be handed over to the housing society. The residents would use the free power and maintain the windmill. Maintenance is not expensive or cumbersome.

The battery, which costs about Rs 4 lakh, needs to be changed every seven to eight years. The installing of the windmill cost Dedhia Rs 10 lakh.

Wind turbines don’t need to be manually switched on and off, said Dedhia. “In case of a storm, there is no need to worry as the charger automatically switches off the windmill. Besides, it is completely safe to install windmills on residential buildings,” he added.

After the success of Kalyan, Dedhia now plans to install another windmill at another site in Godbunder Road, also in Thane. He is busy at present attending to queries from other builders on the success of the windmill. “The developers who had discouraged us from wasting money in setting up a windmill, now want installation guidance,” said Jayesh, Dedhia’s brother.

“They call my brother the windmiller,” Jayesh added.

Source: Down to Earth