Can wind turbines on the Metrobus line generate electricity for 20,000 homes?

Claim: Wind generated from the MetroBus line would be enough to power 20,000 homes.

The claim, sent to Teyit and shared on various social media platforms, states that a new wind turbine technology can use wind-generated by buses running on the MetroBus line in Istanbul to power 20,000 homes. On Twitter, the claim has been shared more than 1,500 times and received more than 9,000 likes.

But it is false. The wind turbines in question can currently only generate 1 kWh of electricity. According to Enlil, the company that started this project, it is not possible to create enough energy for 20,000 homes using only 300 wind turbines. And the numbers confirm this. In addition, Teyit spoke with an Enlil employee, verifying that the numbers that have been circulating were inaccurate.

The electricity generated would not be enough to power 20,000 homes.

Kerem Deveci and his team at Enlil have created a “Smart Vertical Axis Wind Turbine.” They aimed to generate electricity using the wind of moving buses. The project was launched in 2017 at the accelerator ITU Çekirdek. Deveci and his team attracted a lot of attention on social media and have received several awards in various project competitions.

The Enlil team planned on placing 300 wind turbines between incoming and outgoing buses on the MetroBus line, allowing buses on each side to create wind to turn the turbines. In March 2018 Enlil posted on its Twitter page that it had started to do tests at the Vatan Caddesi Metrobus Station in Istanbul.’

In July 2018, a news article by IETT, the main governing body of transportation in Istanbul, stated that the Enlil team would place 300 wind turbines on a 1 km stretch of the Metrobus line, which would generate enough electricity for 20,000 households.

However, Enlil’s posted a Tweet in June 2018, from their official Twitter page, saying that 300 wind turbines would not be enough to power 20,000 homes.

Teyit reached out to the mechanical engineer of the team, Cankat Enver Süren, who said the calculation that came up with the 20,000 number was not done by his team and was inaccurate.

The project is still in the development phase.

Süren told Teyit there are currently no wind turbines on the Metrobus lines. The pictures and videos were all taken during the prototype phase, and the turbines were uninstalled shortly after. Suren mentioned that the team is working on a second prototype and will come out with a new product in a couple of months. He also said the team did not currently have a contract with the municipality, Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediyesi, but is continuing talks. In addition, Suren said the team is not only working on a project for the Metrobus line but is also interested in expanding it to the motorway. He ended by adding that it had recently been invited to several competitions in Germany and England to promote and expand the project.

The wind turbine is expected to generate 1 kW of electricity per hour.

In an interview with TRT World, Kerem Deveci, the founder of Enlil, said the company aims to generate 1 kWh of energy, enough energy to light one household if a turbine works for six hours. He added that the project is in the prototype phase.

1 kWh means the turbine will generate 1000 W in one hour. By looking at a chart done by the by University of Illinois, we can calculate that 1kWh can power three 6W bulbs for three days with. The chart, which allows other calculations as well, also shows the electricity consumption and calculation of other electrical products.

In conclusion, the Enlil has been created by Kerem Deveci and his team. The project does showcase vertical turbines on the Metrobus lane; however, it is still a prototype with no active devices on the Metrobus line and does not promise to provide energy to 20,000 homes and the project.

Link to Original: https://teyit.org/videodaki-turbinlerin-metrobuslerin-olusturdugu-ruzgarla-20-bin-eve-yetecek-elektrik-uretebildigi-iddiasi/