Where? I know. I’d never heard of Dhaubadi either.
It’s a remote village in Nepal, one that I pictured looking something like this:
It does. But it also looks like this:
And this:
The lifestyle of the Dhaubadi people just became a lot more like ours – in some ways, maybe even more advanced and convenient. Dhaubadi is Asia’s first renewable energy village, thanks to the installation of a hybrid wind-solar system.
The hybrid system consistsi of two sets of 5kw wind turbines and 2 kwp of solar PV panels combining to generate almost 44 kwh of electricity per day. According to energynepal, the hybrid system can light 46 households.
The press release says that cooking and cleaning can now be done after dark, and the children can continue to study or play after the sun goes down. The villagers can also watch television, charge cell phones, operate computers and read by electric light.
The wind-solar system was installed under a USD 3.8 million Asian Development Bank (ADB) Regional Technical Assistance (RETA) initiative, with Nepal’s Ministry of Environment as the implementing agency.
The next phase for ADB and RETA includes erecting greenhouses to absorb solar energy and to manage the use of water to aid in farming and vegetable production in Nepal.
Nepal has a history of chronic shortages in reliable energy, but an abundance of wind and solar resources. The deployment of small wind power systems is easily replicated in similar rural areas in Asia, and the rest of the world.
Doing so provides remote regions with opportunities for additional income and jobs. It also allows people to remain in their rural communities and support their local economy through implementation of renewable energies.
