Turbines on the tundra
Hybrid power the way of the future, says wind farm expert
Lyndsay Herman
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 16, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Four wind turbines whirr on the tundra at Diavik Diamond Mine, due in large part to the work of Liezl van Wyk.
Control Room Operator Scott MacKenzie checks the power generated by Diavik Diamond Mine's four wind turbines against power generated by the mine's diesel generators and the power demand of mine operations. - Lyndsay Herman/NNSL photo
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Van Wyk is Diavik's manager of operational excellence for Diavik Diamond Mine Inc. and was the one-woman show charged with determining whether a wind farm at the diamond mine was worth pursuing.
"The challenge, then, in terms of planning, was not knowing what should be considered," said van Wyk.
"You've got to speak to so many people and work through so many scenarios so quickly to make sure that you don't miss anything because once you're locked in, you're locked in."
She gave the example of contracts, which are typically adapted by Diavik from contracts from Rio Tinto, the 60-per-cent owner of Diavik Diamond Mine. Since the company hasn't taken on a project like the wind farm before everything was done from scratch, van Wyk said.
Van Wyk was also charged with decisions such as the make, size, and location of each of the four turbines.
Van Wyk said she decided to go with four turbines capable of producing 2.3 mega-Watts of power instead of eight turbines capable of producing 800 kilo-Watts of power, since fewer structures meant less man-power and equipment time would be taken away from mine activities.
The turbines are unmanned structures and have the ability to turn a maximum of 270 degrees and pivot blades to maintain a optimum number of rotations per minute.
Doug Ashbury, adviser communications for Diavik Diamond Mines Inc., said the wind farm has replaced 3.5 million litres of diesel fuel and supplied an average of 8.6 percent of the mine's power so far in 2013.
With the project now successfully constructed, the Diavik wind farm is of interest to more than just the companies hoping to save money on the power it generates.
"I'm stunned where we get calls from," van Wyk said.
"Definitely from an engineering perspective, specifically turbine manufacturers and developers, industry that's building this, they are very keen to learn. I think it's also because we have very good data right now, in terms of electrical data, wind data, performance data, utilization, bell curves, those things are priceless information."
The wind turbines at Diavik are unique from most models as they don't have a gear box involved.
Gear boxes generally have a high failure rate and in the extreme temperatures of the north, which get so cold oil can crystallize, a gear box wouldn't have made sense, van Wyk said.
"We are seeing a lot of the other turbine manufacturers are now trying to mimic and catching up, going for the same design."
Van Wyk predicts hybrid power grids will likely become more common in large projects like the Diavik Diamond Mine due to lower costs of manufacturing products related to wind and solar power and government initiatives which penalize non-renewable energy emissions.
"It's the only way that makes economic sense," she said. "Diavik didn't run this project for the sake of running renewables. It just made economic sense and wherever it makes economic sense, we'll see more of these projects."
