Teen powers up flatpack turbine

Aflatpack wind turbine invented by a 15-year-old Scottish pupil is to be used to help provide power to communities in Kenya. Douglas Macartney, now 19, designed the turbine for a competition in 2018 and it has since been developed into a viable prototype by several teams of undergraduate engineers from Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU).

Students worked over several years to create the prototype, with their input including the addition of two solar panels.

The device, which can be assembled without any specialist training, is intended to be used to help areas recovering from natural disasters and in rural settlements far from grid connection.

GCU is now working with other partners to bring the turbine to Kenya, where it will help rural communities.

Mr Macartney designed the turbine when he was a pupil at the Royal High School in Edinburgh.

He said: “It has been amazing to see how my idea on paper has been turned into a working prototype.”

The GCU project is one of 64 sharing in £26 million of funding from the UK Government’s Innovate UK Energy Catalyst programme.

PROTOTYPE: The team from GCU with a flatpack turbine.