Promising Whitehorse wind turbine produced 280,000 kWhr in first year

The Danish Mark III Bonus juts 30 metres above the 1430 metre-high Haekel Hill, just north of Whitehorse. Erected in July of 1993, its three 11.5 metre blades need only 12 km/hr of wind to begin operating. Maximum production is attained when winds hit 50 km/hr, and it shuts down at 90 km/hr.

Doug Craig of the Boreal Alternate Energy Centre told Frostline that it took more than six hours to raise the enormous tower. There are no cranes in the territory big enough to lift such a large piece of equipment, so the tower had to be tipped into position. The winching system was custom-built by the manufacturer. It was one of the largest hand-raising projects ever conducted, he said.

The 150 kilowatt wind turbine sees the most action during the windy season, September to March, when it generates enough power to supply about 15 homes. It had been hoped it would supply 300,000 kilowatts per year, but between March 1994 and March 1995, it produced about 280,000, at a cost comparable to deisel.

The biggest problem has been the rime ice (frozen dew) that has accumulated on the massive blades, said Craig. "The icing knocked 15 percent off its expected production." A heating strip was applied to the leading edges of the blades. The strip consists of resistance heating tape. About 2 kilowatts of energy is generated to heat all three blades - about as much energy as it takes to run a common kitchen kettle.

luxury hotels in LuccaThe heaters have proven effective, when icing doesn't interrupt the flow of electricity along the strip. The blades are constructed in two pieces. The last metre or so of each blade is a separate part which is slide-mounted onto the main blade. In this manner, the tips of the blade can move away and turn at a 90 degree angle to act as an aerodynamic brake. Unfortunately, icing interferes with the blade tip, breaking the electrical contact disrupting both the heating action and the blade movement.

John Maissan of the Yukon Energy Corporation says that the blades will be re-worked this summer in the hopes of finding a better way to keep them ice-free. One suggestion has been to paint the blades black, which should work in the fall and spring, but won't be effective in the darkest part of winter.

barcelohotel SopotThe Yukon Energy Corp. believes there is a future in wind farming. It now has wind-monitoring stations on Mount Sumanik and Flat Mountain in the Whitehorse area, and at high altitude locations near Tagish, Haines Junction and Dawson. Future stations are planned for Old Crow, Destruction Bay and a second site at Dawson.