Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

CANADA #15: CircumPolar Assessment of Wind Energy  (CPAWE)

Outline
It is well known that electricity costs in northern isolated communities are exorbitant as they range anywhere from 25 ¢ to two dollars per kilowatt-hour delivered to each home (compared to 4-10 ¢ in southern Canada). It has been shown that wind energy has huge benefits for diesel-powered communities by reducing the need for expensively transported fuel and hence, reducing fuel emissions and green-house gases from local power plants. The benefits to the communities are improved health, economy and empowerment. Developing wind energy in each community requires one to two years of intensive wind measurements so that the economics of a wind project can be determined and used to attract investors. For the International Polar Year 2007-2008 we propose a project to install 20 to 40 wind monitoring stations across Canada's North. This program could be extended throughout the Circumpolar North. Each station will measure wind speed and direction, air temperature, and possibly other environmental factors using industry standard measuring techniques. The wind stations will be maintained by local personnel, and the wind data will be sent to a regional centre for storage. The data will be analysed regularly for quality control. At the end of the monitoring period for each station, a final analysis and reporting will be carried out. The wind stations will either be moved to other sites for more monitoring or left in the community as part of a new wind farm development. As stated earlier the analysed wind data will be used for assessing the feasibility of wind farms in the more than 40 diesel-fuel dependant communities across Canada’s North. This wind monitoring program will also help to validate and improve the Canadian Wind Atlas (www.windatlas.ca). This is a computer model in development by RPN (Recherche en Prévision Numérique) of Environment Canada. As is presently confirmed this project will be carried out through a consortium of energy centres in all three Territories; these include the Nunavut Energy Centre, Nunavut Power Corporation, the Aurora Research Institute, Arctic Energy Alliance, Northwest Territories Power Corporation, the Yukon’s Energy Solution Centre, and the Yukon Development Corporation. The funding will largely come from ANCAP, a joint initiative between NRCan and INAC. We invite participations from international circumpolar wind research efforts and from other Canadian researchers who wish to measure other dimensions of Canada's North.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
The primary purpose of this project is to quantify the status of the annual mean wind climate in the polar regions. Measurements will be made near communities and aimed at gathering the necessary wind information that is required for the economic feasibility of wind farms in each community. As these stations are also running concurrently, the wind data can also provide opportunities for correlation with upper air, satellite and other weather monitoring systems that can used to verify numerical weather prediction models.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
None are confirmed yet. However, likely partners are the Northern Research Forum, based in Iceland, the Barents Institute in Norway, a number of groups in Alaska, and possibly VTT in Finland.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
The monitoring stations will be established in communities across Northern Canada.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: Preparations: 10/05 – 05/06      Tower installations: 05/06 – 10/06      Monitoring period: 10/06 – 04/09
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
The local staff, facility and equipment by the power corporations will be providing the resources to install and maintain the wind stations. In some places helicopters are needed and hence used in coordination other locally ongoing projects to reduce cost. Other IPY projects could attach their instruments to these towers (will likely be 30-m tall tubular towers).

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The wind data will aid in developing wind farms in each community. The existing towers will likely stay in the communities and be used with the proposed wind farms that would be developed as a result of the wind monitoring assessment.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?

The local power corporations typically have the local resources for the wind monitoring program. The regional member institutions also have access to the required equipment needed for installing and maintaining the wind stations.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
NRCan and INAC, though ANCAP, is commencing a national Northern and Aboriginal wind monitoring program in which several participants of this group are be involved. NRCan has been approached regarding IPY and has shown signs of support but has not yet been asked to provide an official response to the idea of a wind program through the IPY. This pre-proposal has been reviewed and is being submitted by the Canadian Steering Committee (CSC). Ongoing discussions will integrate this pre-proposal into a larger network of related national and international initiatives. The CSC has initially sorted this pre-proposal into: Geoscience and New Technologies/ Challenges for Sustainable Resource Development

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
yes

The project will be part of the existing community wind programs by Yukon’s Energy Solution Centre, the NWT’s Aurora Research Institute’s, the Nunavut Energy Centre, and NRCan and INAC’s new national wind program.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project can be organised and managed by the Whitehorse wind energy group. Training will be provided to each region of northern Canada to install and maintain the monitoring station, and to collect and store wind data. Collected data could be sent to the Whitehorse group for quality control and final analysis. Reporting can be done by the Whitehorse group or concurrently with other regional centres. The Whitehorse group will help initiate standardisation of methods. We anticipate that responsibilities will be shared among the project members across the North.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
- Presentations at larger centres, energy fairs, trade shows, etc. - Publish columns in community newspapers, provide radio interviews. - Direct mailings to locals about impacts of wind energy developments. - Document work and publish on website with links to CANWEA and community sites.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
The present plan for data storage and availability will likely be determined by NRCan and INAC.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Most of the funding will be from NRCan and INAC through ANCAP, with contributions from the Territorial Governments. In kind contributions will come from each of NTPC, NPC, and Yukon Energy. Tower installation to data analysis and reporting are estimated at 40,000 to 200,000$ (depends on remoteness and severity of weather conditions) per tower based on our past experience.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
The wind monitoring program in each territory is presently being carried out independently of each other. Proceeding through the IPY will provide a more effective, cohesive and uniform delivery of a wind program across the North. The Yukon group has 15 years of wind monitoring experience that it can share with the other jurisdictions.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Mr  Jean-Paul Pinard
U of Alberta (PhD Candidate), JP Pinard Consulting Engineer
703 Wheeler St, Whitehorse, YT
Y1A 2P6
Canada

Tel: 867-393-3977
Mobile: no
Fax: no
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation