MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands prepares for pilot wind farm

The Falkland Islands Power and Electrical Section of the Public Works Department have applied for planning permission for a 900 kWe wind farm at Sand Bay.

This comprises an array of three 300 kWe turbines each having a hub height of 50 metres (162.5 feet) and a rotor diameter of 30 metres (97 feet). The units currently being considered are manufactured by a German company called Enercon whose E33 is a wind turbine that has been developed and designed for remote locations.

Glenn Ross, Power Station Manager says the turbine is synchronous with variable pitch control blades. "This is a key design feature, as for the first time a wind turbine promises the close output limit control necessary for successful integration on to our relatively small electricity supply network." Mr Ross explained that wind turbine power output varies in direct proportion to the cube of the instantaneous wind speed. "For example, a wind speed of five metres per second doubling to 10 metres per second, would not double the power output but would increase it by nearly 10 times. This is good and bad, good in that we have a vast wind resource, bad in that it is a rapidly varying wind, resulting in a rapidly varying power output. "This means that conventional diesel fuelled generation needs to provide instantaneous compensation for the fluctuations in the wind turbine output."

Large networks such as the UK and Europe, with their vast array of nuclear, coal, gas and oil power stations can at present absorb these fluctuating outputs from standard asynchronous wind turbines.

The Falklands' small system, Mr Ross says, could not readily do so. "In camp, small wind turbines provide a varying charging current for banks of batteries, the batteries in part perform as a buffer, and homes are then supplied via an inverter." Mr Ross says the Power and Electrical Section of PWD is supportive of the environmental benefits that the wind farm will bring and says there is a general need to feel better about how we use energy - "there are obvious branding and marketing opportunities derived from having a wind farm". However, he adds, the primary goals here are to deliver a successful engineering project that displaces imported fossil fuels economically.

And what about the price of electricity?

"It is unlikely that the wind farm will result in a reduction in electricity prices in the short term, firstly any capital funding allocation will need to be returned and then the wind farm can be used to stabilise future electricity prices", explained Mr. Ross. The importance of the Sand Bay site itself cannot be overstated, according to Mr Ross. "Wind turbines are large dynamic machines; in the right location their appearance is attractive and even majestic, in the wrong location the opposite is true. The remoteness of the site also deals nicely with noise and television interference issues." Enercon describes the site, from photographs, as "excellent".

The Falkland Islands Development Corporation's Energy Advisory Officer, Tim Cotter, is similarly enthusiastic and has been working closely with the Power and Electrical Section and has been gathering wind data for this site since 2002. This wind data was used by McLellan and Partners in a recent PWD consultancy to assess the site's suitability for a wind farm.

Mr Ross says concerns such as bird mortality have been raised and will have to be considered as part of the planning process, but he says the units envisaged have a low rotor speed which reduces this risk and the site will be the subject of a baseline survey as part of the appraisal.

A working group has been established with the aim of delivering the best renewable energy solution for Stanley. Chaired by Councillor Roger Edwards, members are Environmental Planning Officer Dominique Giudicelli, Tim Cotter, Mr Ross and his colleague, electrical engineer John Burns.

The Power and Electrical Section anticipates that they will shortly be in a position to submit a detailed paper to Executive Council seeking capital approval for the project to be undertaken in the 2006/2007 financial year.

This section of PWD has been involved in over 25 years of research into a wind farm for Stanley and is pleased to describe what are considered several "green lights" for the project.

Mr Ross says, "Key changes are the development of a wind turbine, very much with situations like ours in mind and the endorsement by McLellan and Partners Ltd and wind power experts Garrad Hassan for the single supply authority strategy. This allows the most harmonious and efficient circumstances for conventional and wind power integration, optimizing fuel displacement." He adds however that the technical demands of the project will be considerable. "The control systems at the Power Station need to be fully modernized and staff trained in the maintenance and operation of them. The maintenance of the wind turbines will be undertaken by Power and Electrical staff with support and training from the manufacturers." (PN).-