Titel: Wind power in Antarctica – a feasibility study for Wasa
Författare/Author: Anna Lindquist
Utgivare/Publisher: Uppsala universitet, Vindforsk
Årtal/Year: 2004
Ämnesord/Subject: vindkraft i kallt klimat
Sökord/Keywords: global, local, wind patterns, antarctica, wind shear, turbulence
Examensarbete/Master Thesis (Pdf)
Sammanfattning/Abstract: The Swedish Polar Research Secretariat maintains two research stations in Antarctica, Wasa and Svea. They are both small, summer-only stations that are manned a few months at a time during the regular expeditions to the continent. Recently, Swedish scientists asked for the possibility to make around-the-year measurements with automatic equipment at the two stations. Since Wasa and Svea are only manned occasionally, this request implies the need for a new power supply system. The demands imposed on this new, separate system are hard. The continent is the coldest, windiest and driest on earth and the power supply system must be designed to withstand the harsh conditions. Since there is no personnel present during the Antarctic winter, the system also has to be autonomous and very reliable.
The environment in Antarctica is sensitive and protected by strict regulations that all members of the Antarctic Treaty are obliged to follow.
More and more nations are revising their power supply systems in order to find substitutions for the conventional diesel generators, and wind power
has been installed at several stations and has worked well in many cases. This master thesis project is a feasibility study aimed at investigating
whether wind power is a convenient solution in a separate power supply system at Wasa.
During the project, wind data from weather stations in Antarctica have been used to map the wind resources at the two research stations.
Although more accurate wind measurements would be needed for a complete evaluation of the wind resources, it can be seen that the prerequisites for wind power are good at Wasa. The wind is very directional, the wind speeds are moderate and the temperatures not too low. A wind turbine modified for the climate in Antarctica should function well at Wasa, in combination with a battery bank with NiCd batteries.
Two turbines that fulfil most of the demands imposed on them and that seem to perform well in the conditions at Wasa were found, one 6 kW
unit and a smaller 1 kW turbine. The choice between the two different models is a compromise between the benefits of a system with a few large
turbines and the benefits of a system with a greater number of small units.