Russian Man Finds a Way To Ignore Energy Industry Reform

He no longer fears the harsh Russian winter

Nikolai Budilin, from the settlement of Vyshki in the Ulyanovsk region, has set up a wind turbine in his house. He has so more concern over reform of the Russian energy industry.

Budilin lived and worked in the city of Ulyanovsk for a long period of time, until the perestroika era. He and many of his colleagues then lost their jobs and decided to move to a village. In 1987, he acquired a small house in the small town of Vyshki. However, Budilin soon realized that he would have to spend most of his money on firewood and electricity, since Russian winters are rather severe.

Budilin read an article in a magazine that said that Western farmers set up wind turbines for their houses. After reading the article, he began to dream of making a wind turbine for his own house. He originally thought of buying one, but he had to give the idea up on account of the very high price and man decided to do it with his own two hands. He read a large number of technical books and magazines, designed the schemata and obtained a power-generating unit, metal pipes and other material.

The top of the turbine, the propeller and the 10-meter poll were completed in a year. However, engineers from another settlement advised him to make the poll twice as longer — 20 meters. "The stronger the wind, the better the electric current. My wind turbine is meant for five kilowatts, which is enough for my house," Budilin said. "Last winter, I did not burn a piece of firewood; I have no firewood at all! I have three heaters in the house, five lamps, a fridge, a TV set and a cooking stove. When I went to Ulyanovsk to visit my relatives there, they complained to me that it was too cold in their apartments. Well, I could walk around in my house in my underwear.

"However, the climate in this region is rather strange. The wind changes every 30 minutes, so I spent several hours observing climate changes and jotting the records down. My wind turbine starts working at a wind speed of three meters per second and stops at a speed of 20 meters per second. I have a special lab in my house and a special device that registers the work of the wind turbine. I did all of it myself," he says proudly.

The wind turbine has already become the pride of the village. However, some local residents disapprove of Budilin’s invention — probably on account of envy. Someone even filed an official complaint claiming that the turbine produced too much noise at night. Officials came to measure the noise level, but then apologized and left. People come to see the turbine from other towns too, especially from the Republic of Tatarstan.

Arseny Korolev
Simbirsky Kurier