At the Canadian Wind Energy Association’s (CanWEA) Annual Conference and Exhibition held in Calgary from October 8-10, Nergica’s team took the opportunity to present the results of various research projects. A summary of these results is outlined below.
Ice Production Ratio
Our colleague Nigel Swytink-Binnema presented the “Ice Production Ratio” (IPR). This method of assessing ice protection systems has notably been used to evaluate ENERCON’s de-icing system. It can also be used to estimate the efficiency of any other system operating under icing conditions.
Ultimately, Nergica would like the industry to adopt this method for the sake of standardization. Developers would then be able to use it to make informed decisions when purchasing a de-icing system, while operators and OEMs could benefit by quantifying the efficiency of an installed system or to promote the added value of their system.
Optimizing wind potential assessments in the pre-construction phase
Our project manager Marilys Clément presented the results of an ongoing project being carried out in partnership with RES Canada.
The project aims to enhance the quality of pre-construction resource assessments (wind, icing, energy production). To do so, Nergica models the climate over several decades in order to characterize the wind and icing as a function of their averages and their variabilities. Using the icing model developed by Nergica – widely referred to as “GPEO” – provides a more accurate characterization of icing than what is possible with other models currently used in the industry. By generating more comprehensive climate analyses and a more reliable characterization of the wind resource, this project represents an important breakthrough.
Effects of climate change on wind power: preliminary study results
Nigel Swytink-Binnema also presented a poster summarizing the preliminary results of a study on the impact of climate change on wind power potential. These initial results suggest a decrease in icing in those regions where wind turbines are installed.
