Former Royal Marine, and now Member of the Legislative Assembly on the Falklands, Mr Roger Edwards said: “The Falklands is an ideal place for generating wind power, because of the high wind speeds.” He added: “Ten years ago we purchased six 330kw wind turbines. We have now been able to put into the grid approximately 40 percent of electrical power, from the wind turbines.
“On some days when the wind is particularly steady, we’ve even been able to achieve in excess of this 40 percent input.”
Wind energy is not the only renewable opportunity that the islands are pursuing.
Mr Edwards said: “In the last 12 months we have taken delivery of our first electric vehicles.
“Many of our large private companies have taken on electric vehicles to see how they work in the Falkland Islands.”
The legislature on the islands plans to use surplus electricity from wind turbines to power electric vehicles for free.
This is a concept that is “being seriously looked at” on the Falklands, according to Mr Edwards.
He said: “We have looked at the installing additional wind turbines, not so much to power the grid but to provide surplus power overnight that could be used to offer free charging for electric vehicles.
“We need to work out the charging points for the vehicles across the island’s 4,700 sq miles of area.”
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There is an average of 1651 hours of sunlight per year on the Falklands.
In comparison, the UK only gathers an average of 1493 hours of sunlight per year, “a fact that many people may not realise” suggests Mr Edwards.
He then added: “We are placing many solar heating panels on individual houses.
“This has saved a lot of energy heating hot water.”
