Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Venturas (SMALL WIND ENERGY, A HIGHLY EXPLOITABLE RESOURCE)
Reporting period: 2017-12-01 to 2018-03-31
Small and medium electricity consumers (farms, residential houses, telecom stations, etc.) have difficulties in having access to the electrical grid in remote locations. Current solutions for their energy provision are diesel engines (high operational cost, pollutant), solar panels (require insolation, much ground) or Small Wind Turbines (SWT). Current SWT do not operate efficiently at low wind speeds and/or at low altitudes where surface friction forces the wind to slow and turn near the ground, hence, these on/off-grid consumers cannot take advantage of the wind resource properly. The utilization of technologies that can harness the huge potential of surface wind by adaptation of its components, precise orientation to wind and functioning at low wind speeds will revolutionise the distributed energy generation. The objective of the project is to place on the market this kind of technology called Venturas.
The Feasibility Study has demonstrated that the range of customers for Venturas is wide in the EU. The total SOM for Venturas is significantly high reaching more than 3 M units. The SWT market in Europe and the rest of the world is growing (over 17.2% from 2017 to 2025) and expectations are high (€1,5 billion by 2025). The project risks have been identified, and mitigation measures have been planned for them. Competitors have been studied and their solutions can be beaten specially in sectors naturally targeted by Venturas. The barriers for Venturas market introduction have been identified and mechanisms to overcome them have been set up. The new innovations for Venturas may be patented and we will be able to sell Venturas commercialised without infringing valid IPR. The financial study has demonstrated that the project is profitable in a short period of time. The market approach has been outlined to address the EU countries facilitating a global market expansion in the future.
The proposed project is profitable with sales in the period 2020-2024 of 96.81 M€, EBITDA 24.8 M€. And Return on Investment (ROI) = 1.61 (3 years) and 7.37 (5 years). The payoff period is only 2.5 year. Venturas aims to achieve a 17 % share of the European market and 2.5 % of the global market by 2024. Venturas will create around 31 jobs by 2024 and will allow the proliferation of wind power in the distributed energy sector.