Wigton Windfarm launches its first endorsed book

Renewable energy company Wigton Wind-farm Limited launched its first endorsed book, Understanding Wind Energy: Youth Repowering the Future, at the PCJ Auditorium in St Andrew on Wednesday, marking another milestone for the company.

The book's author, energy engineer Oswald O. King, who has been employed to Wigton for the past nine years, explained his rationale for writing the book.

"Wigton accommodates school tours at the facility, and each tour that I guided, I noticed that the students asked the same set of questions. This made me realise that there was a gap in the information that is available to them, so I decided to write a book to make information about wind energy and wind-farm operations available to students," he stated.

He further added that his research revealed that there were books readily available about renewable energy, but not tailored towards an in-depth explanation about wind energy and its electricity-generating potential. Consequently, his publication is the first of its kind to be written in Jamaica that is focused solely on wind energy and wind-farm operations.

TEACHING MATERIAL

The book has been approved by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information and will be used as teaching material to educate secondary school students in grades seven to nine about wind energy and how it can be harnessed for the generation of electricity. It is anticipated that the book will be published and made available in stores by the end of September.

Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Dr Andrew Wheatley commended the author for his bold undertaking.

"Commendations to Oswald for writing a book which speaks to our vision as a country and supports the transfer of knowledge that is critical for our nation to move forward. It will give its readers an appetite and appreciation for renewable energy while developing their mindset and approach to innovation," he said.

The Wigton Windfarm operates a 62.7 MW wind generating plant in Rose Hill, Manchester. The company also operates a renewable energy training lab, which offers short practical and theoretical courses in various aspects of alternative energy, including solar thermal, photovoltaics, wind power, fuel cells, concentrated solar power, energy consumption and measurement, small hydro and bio-energy.