Why wind turbines thrive in Antarctica and colder places than Texas

At the main research station in America in Antarctica, the annual temperature averages zero degrees Fahrenheit, but often drops much lower. There, near the United States’ McMurdo station, a few wind turbines can provide enough electricity to power 100 American homes, and avoid burning more than 120,000 gallons of diesel annually.

This is no surprise. Wind turbines, cleverly designed for aircraft wings, offer reliable, ever-cheaper energy that does not emit deadly air pollution and greenhouse gases with planetary warming into the atmosphere. Such tall turbines were far from responsible for Texas’ disastrous energy collapse following a well-predicted Arctic air surge to the region (it was largely a failure of gas-fired power stations and infrastructure along with a poorly equipped, vulnerable network) . Train, extremely irresponsible reporting A ‘MASSIVE GREEN ENERGY FAILURE’, specifically Texas’ more than 13,000 wind turbines, was wrongly blamed for the historic collapse.

The reality of wind turbines, however, is that they often operate in icy conditions and that they can be weathered to perform in winter extremes. Therefore, they work in places like Sweden, Antarctica and Iowa (more than 40 percent of Iowa’s electricity comes from wind). Sometimes some turbines (especially those that do not wear out like many in Texas) are temporarily shut down under icy conditions, where other energy sources, whether nuclear, solar, gas or hydropower, are meant to pick up the slack. .

And just like solar power, nuclear power and hydropower, wind energy is one major contributor to a larger energy system – a system that is gradually becoming more efficient, more reliable and cleaner. Of course, some turbines today are not weathered and the wind does not always blow, but it is well known. This is OK.

“This is normal. We thought of solar and wind as part of our overall supply of electricity,” said Grant Goodrich, executive director of the Great Lakes Energy Institute at Case Western Reserve University, which operates and researches wind turbines.

Work in the cold

Wind energy will continue to expand in the United States. This is because money talks in the US and the prices of wind turbines have dropped. What’s more, wind energy does not carry the cost and risk of transporting fossil fuels through hundreds of miles of pipelines, and the realistic potential for massive leaks and grim explosions.

“The economy is there,” said Gavin Dillingham, the director of energy at the Houston Advanced Research Center, an energy research organization in Texas. Sun and wind are often cheaper than natural gas, adds Dillingham, who is also the director of the US Department of Energy’s Southcentral and Upper West Combined Heat and Power Technical Assistance Partnership, which works to improve the region’s energy efficiency and resilience. .

If you take into account the extreme weather, engineering is there and improving it as well. To work in cold places like Canada, heating can be applied to some essential components of the turbines, such as the car and gears.

“Cold climate-weathered wind turbines are not rocket science,” explained Vijay Modi, a professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. However, the weathering of turbines adds cost, perhaps less than 10 percent of the price of a new turbine, he said. And during freezing events, some wind energy is diverted to the heating of the turbines.

“The electricity output of the turbine decreases slightly as heating elements that prevent freezing kick in,” Modi said. “But it is a very slight reduction in turbine yields, as otherwise there is a danger of not having the production at all.”

Image: Getty Images / Timothy Fadek / Corbis

However, a current area of ​​turbine innovation today is not just how to deal with the cold, but what to do with ice (caused by humid and icy weather conditions). “Temperature is really not the important factor for the operation of the turbine,” Goodrich said. “The problem is ice formation on the blades.” Too much ice accumulation on the blades can make it too heavy to turn productively or safely.

The development of ice-resistant covers for large turbine blades is an ongoing, important area of ​​research, explains Hui Hu, director of the Aircraft Icing Physics and Anti- / De-icing Technology Laboratory at Iowa State University. Coatings (made with chemicals intended to repel water droplets) are ideal because they do not require energy to heat the blades, Hu said. Yet heating the blades is also a viable option. In Sweden, the power company Skellefteå Kraft both started heating a carbon fiber layer on blades and circulating hot air inside the blades.

See also: Why winter, yes winter, burns in California

Wind turbines are obviously not the only energy infrastructure that needs to be weathered due to the potential of extreme temperatures. After winter extremes in 2011 led to major disruptions in Texas and New Mexico, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recommended that Texas’ electrical infrastructure – including gas plants, gas pipelines, wind turbines and transmission lines – be winter-ready, such as by insulating pipes. That did not happen. As a result, cold weather (which Texas knew they would come) only large parts of the grid collapsed. Misery and death followed.

“The entire infrastructure consists of the fact that the state has not taken the necessary steps to defend its infrastructure,” the Houston Advanced Research Center’s Dillingham said, noting that shutdown of gas plants was the biggest factor in the failure. of the network in Texas.

In the coming decade and beyond, wind power will be strengthened by the ability to Save excess energy in batteries. This will provide more reliable renewable energy if some turbines, for example, can be less productive. ‘We have to build [wind farms] with storage in mind, “Goodrich said. The cost of storing batteries dropped by nearly 70 percent between 2015 and 2018, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

As wind energy is going to increase across the country, Modi emphasizes that it is wise to weather more wind turbines. The wind is free, and our ability to harness expert energy from air currents impresses even mechanical engineers.

“The modern 21st century wind turbine is an ingenious technology,” Modi said.