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INUVIK
The search for world-class wind near Inuvik continues as instruments measuring wind speed and direction were installed Oct. 4 on a telecommunications tower at Storm Hills.

A tower climber installs instruments to measure wind speed and direction at an existing telecommunications tower on Storm Hills outside Inuvik. A solar panel that generates energy for the instruments can be seen at the bottom of the tower. - photo courtesy of the Aurora Research Institute

In response to energy concerns in town, Environment and Natural Resources Minister Michael Miltenberger called on the department to investigate every possible option for meeting Inuvik's energy needs.

Last March, the Aurora Research Institute released a study analyzing data from Environment Canada weather stations located within a 50-km radius of town. Computer-generated models and estimates indicated strong enough wind speeds might occur at Storm Hills to make a wind turbine project economically viable.

Modelling from the study projects a wind speed of eight meters per second, which could keep wind energy in the running as a theoretically feasible project.

However, Environment Canada weather stations, which provided the data, are located 10 metres from the ground and do not collect data that would necessarily be accurate for a 75 metre-tall wind turbine.

This second study will span two years and will have anemometers – instruments which record wind speed and direction – located as high as 45 metres.

"This is sort of an experiment to try and prove if the model is right," said Wade Carpenter, an alternative energy specialist for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. "If you have eight metres per second, that is world-class wind speeds, so we're trying to find out if that's true."

Carpenter said the institute will release a report after the first year and then release a final report at the end of two years.

The total cost of the study is $71,000. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is contributing $50,000 while the Aurora Research Institute picks up the remaining $21,000.

"We will collect wind speed data and wind direction data for two years, "said Annika Trimble, special projects co-ordinator and librarian for the Aurora Research Institute. "That way, if you have one year that's kind of funny – maybe there were lots of storms or a really calm year – then it's really good to have two years just to account for some of that variability.

"Then we run the same kind of analysis that we did in the first place, but this time with the actual data that we have."

The instruments were installed on an existing tower to reduce the cost and environmental impact of the project, said Trimble.

She said the final report will be brought back to the community so those interested can make informed decisions on using wind to satisfy the electricity needs of Inuvik.

"We are just providing them the study and science, giving them good background information and letting them know (if this is) feasible or not and, if so, what is the best course of action," Trimble said. "Then it's up to them to make it happen."

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