Punta de Aguila

In Punta de Aguila blueEnergy insalled a small battery charging station with a 500 W wind turbine on a 60 ft tower and a 50 W solar panel.  The energy system is centrally located in the community of around 100 inhabitants and serves as a “fueling station” for home batteries as well as the communal school battery.  Individual families have purchased deep-cycle batteries and all other necessary peripherals to electrify their homes through a micro-loan program created by blueEnergy.  Families carry their batteries to the central charging station and pay a fee of ~ $2 to charge them.  One charge last a typical family between 10 to 14 days; approximately 60 people are direct beneficiaries of home battery charging and everyone in the community is a beneficiary of the battery located in the school / community center.  The capital funding for the battery charging station came from the Finnish government but the community is responsible for all maintenance and operation costs.  The community uses the charging fees to cover these costs.  The energy system is owned by blueEnergy during a 3-year trial period where the community must show its ability to maintain it; if the community successfully demonstrates this, it will gain ownership of the system at the end of the trial period.