John Curran
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 10, 2007

TUKTOYAKTUK - This is the second part in a series examining the potential use of wind power in the NWT.

Following the recent Remote Communities Wind Energy Conference, Delta leaders unanimously endorsed the idea of seeing the GNWT set up a working wind power demonstration project in Tuktoyaktuk by the end of 2009.

Using a wireless Internet connection in Tuktoyaktuk, Entegrity Wind Systems president Malcolm Lodge is able to activate a wind turbine in Texas and troubleshoot another in Ontario. - John Curran/NNSL photo

Experts agree the previous wind experiments in the NWT failed for a variety of technological reasons including icing on turbine blades and poor lubrication.

But the past is just that, the past, according to Nellie Cournoyea, conference chairperson as well as chair and chief executive officer of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation.

"We have so many think-tanks and workshops, we need to see something come out of this (conference)," she said.

"I definitely feel better about the technology after seeing what's being done in Kotzebue, Alaska."

In Kotzebue, an Arctic community of about 3,500, a wind farm of 17 turbines is now providing an average of seven per cent of its power per year with the rest largely generated by burning diesel fuel.

"Wind provides about 50 per cent during peak times," said Brad Reeve, general manager of the Kotzebue Electric Association. There too, several failed attempts in the 1980s made it hard to get the project off the ground.

When a wind turbine is erected in the south, he said roughly 70 per cent of the budget goes to buying the hardware while just 30 per cent is spent on design and engineering.

"We had to reverse that," he said. "Our turbines cost about $150,000 each installed."

Helping the Alaskans work through some of their engineering challenges was Entegrity Wind Systems, a Prince Edward Island-based firm.

"We have largely solved those issues with previous (NWT wind turbines)," said Malcolm Lodge, Entegrity's president, adding he has worked in the past as a consultant on projects in the territories.

"The cold climate presents technical challenges ... related to lubrication and atmospheric issues."

When it comes to avoiding the ice buildup - known as rime ice or hoarfrost when it occurs on trees - that plagued previous towers, he said picking the exact piece of ground best suited to development is critical.

"In Sachs Harbour, for example, I'd want to talk to someone on the ground like Roger Kuptana to ask him about the local icing conditions," he said.

For the residents of Sachs Harbour, there have been other windmill location lessons learned as well.

"They put it in the wrong spot," said Sachs resident Darren Nasogaluak. "Even with the television on, at night you could hear it whirring away."

Poor lubrication, which Lodge said was one of the downfalls of Rankin Inlet's failed windmill, can be tackled through several steps.

Rankin employed a standard Arctic weight synthetic lube which was good to about -30 C, but Entegrity now uses one rated to -40 C in Alaska.

When the turbine is operating the friction within the gearbox keeps it flowing, so the only challenge is when the wind is just starting to blow hard enough to turn the blades, he said.

"We use a motor now to get the blades spinning as the wind is coming up to speed," he said. "We heat the lubricant at that point, too."

The heat is only turned on when it's actually required as a cost-saving measure.

"You can't afford to heat the Arctic," he said.

Having the ability to do regular maintenance and diagnose any problems quickly are also huge keys to any successful wind project, said Lodge.

Entegrity's design includes a Web-based remote diagnostic system that allows technicians to find out exactly what's wrong with a turbine without sending someone up a 25-metre tower to investigate.

During the conference in Tuk, Lodge used a wireless Internet connection to plug into the system and promptly turn on a windmill motor in Texas and troubleshoot another in Ontario.

"This does a lot to guarantee our reliability, because it allows us to see when there's a problem," he said.

"In the past you'd get a call from someone in a community saying there was a problem with the windmill and you'd ask 'What's wrong?' They'd answer, 'It's not turning.' Now we can see exactly what's wrong right away."

While technology has advanced, so have the costs and for some they are simply too high to build a legitimate business case for using any wind-diesel combination.

"Believe me, if wind power was really worth it, we would be out there building them as we speak," NWT Power Corporation (NTPC) president and chief executive officer Leon Courneya told conference delegates and Tuk residents.

If any community wanted to pay the premium associated with wind-generated power, he said NTPC would gladly get them a turbine.

From a financial perspective, most participants agreed spending $150,000 per windmill to fill only a minute fraction of the NWT's power needs wouldn't work. However, they also insisted it was time for NTPC to look beyond the numbers.

"We keep placing values on economics when there are other issues to consider," said Marino Casebeer, of the Arctic Energy Alliance.

Those other issues are the social benefit of training Northerners to build and maintain Delta wind farms and the environmental benefit of starting to move away from diesel-generated power, he said.

Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington was far less forgiving after hearing the NTPC boss speak.

"If the Power Corporation's mandate was really about delivering power at as low a cost as possible it would turn control over to Northland Utilities," he said.