Message-ID: <199603202105.NAA29653@cdp.igc.apc.org> Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 13:05:50 -0800 From: Tom Gray <mailto:tomgray@IGC.APC.ORG> Subject: --Wind Potential Seen in North To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
DUTCH INDUSTRIES SEES POTENTIAL IN FAR NORTHDutch Industries, of Regina, Sask., is "quite pleased" with the operation to date of an 80-kW Dutch Lagerwey turbine it installed a year ago in the remote community of Cambridge Bay in the Northwest Territories, according to company president Izaak Cruson.
The 80-kW machine is the biggest that it is feasible to install, said Cruson, because of transportation and installation limitations. The turbine machine is 24 meters high, with a rotor diameter of 18 meters, and is capable of producing about 200,000 kWh per year. The whole machine, tower and all, can be installed with nothing more than a backhoe. It is not set in concrete, but on a buried grid; essentially, the bottom of the tower is set into the ground. This avoids the problem of concrete cracking in the cold, and if the ground shifts, the soil can be dug up, the tower straightened and the soil replaced. Cruson said the unit is designed to withstand temperatures of -60 F, and it has proven to have "no problems whatsoever" at temperatures as low as -35 F.
Cruson said his company is in the process of creating a "five year plan" for further development in the far North, but that it will collect another winter's worth of data from Cambridge Bay before beginning any new construction.
The turbine, which the company owns, was installed on the site of an earlier unsuccessful wind project, Cruson said, noting that the previous turbine was one which could not withstand the extremes of the Northern weather. Cambridge Bay is located on Victoria Island, almost 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
The Northwest Territories Power Corporation is now buying power produced by the Lagerwey at the cost of the diesel-fired electricity it is replacing. At the current rate, Cruson said, the cost of the machine could be paid off in about six years, and Dutch Industries has an agreement with Northwest Territories Power which will allow the utility to buy the machine in the future if it chooses to do so. Dutch Industries has a part-time employee who visits the turbine site regularly to perform all necessary maintenance.
Asked about the unusual business arrangement, Cruson said it was necessary "to overcome the perception not only that wind does not work in the North, but that wind doesn't work in general" left by the previous project. "We felt we weren't going to convince people unless we put our own money on the line and proved we could deliver, and an arrangement where we simply were paid at the rate that it costs to generate diesel power seemed like one that would be hard to object to."
With respect to the part-time maintenance person, Cruson added, "You need someone like that in every community, whether it's a project like this or a water-pumper somewhere in Africa. We always insist on having local person involved who knows enough so that if something goes wrong, they can call us and get enough information to go make the repair. I'd say that's a must for any of these installations. Ultimately, you have to put something in that someone wants, have to make sure it works. To me, service and support are as important, maybe more important, than the hardware you put in."
The northern utilities have been cooperative, Cruson said, because that adding wind power to the traditional diesel generators in remote areas creates a "win-win" situation. The Canadian government subsidizes power in the Northern communities, so if it can be produced more cheaply by offsetting diesel with wind, everyone involved benefits, he said. The central problem, Cruson added, is the lack of capital to get a project up and running.
Several Inuit development corporations are interested in investing in Dutch Industries projects, said Cruson, but he said it was too early to specify actual partners. He added that work is currently under way toward reaching partnership agreements.
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