Technical and economic evaluation of the utilisation of wind energy at the SANAE IV base in Antarctica

• Main Author: Teetz, Heiko Walter
• Other Authors: Harms, T. M., Von Backstrom, T.W., Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University 2002
• Subjects: Wind power plants > Antarctica; Wind turbines; Renewable energy sources > Antarctica; Dissertations > Mechanical and mechatronic engineering; Theses > Mechanical and mechatronic engineering; Antarctic; SANAE; SANAE IV; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/53081

Thesis (MScEng)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002. ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The cost of powering Antarctic research stations by conventional diesel electric generator systems is high (Steel, 1993). In order to reduce these costs and airborne pollution due to the combustion of fossil fuels, an investigation into renewable energy sources has been conducted, with the focus on wind turbine energy generation. The aim was to see whether a wind turbine is feasible, both technically and economically, for partial energy production at the SANAE IV base. The existing diesel electrical generators will still be used for the base demand, when there is not enough wind or when the energy demand is more than can be produced by the wind turbine. The work accomplished for this study explains and motivates a MSc. (Eng.) thesis on the feasibility of installing wind electricity generators at Antarctica. This evaluation was done for the South African research station SANAE IV in Antarctica. It provides information on the literature consulted to date, the theoretical and practical work covered, the theoretical investigations, the results obtained and future implementations. Also included in this work was a trip to Antarctica, so that all the relevant data, like wind speeds and wind direction could be measured. Another reason for having done the trip was to do an energy audit for SANAE IV, so that the energy demand for the base could be established. The energy demand of the base varies among other factors, for summer and winter conditions, for day and night conditions, and for population variations. With the information obtained during the trip, the theoretical evaluation of a possible wind turbine system was performed. With the aid of the data from the 6 m wind mast, wind profiles have been established, from which Wei bull distributions were obtained, and the energy output from 5 different wind turbines, in the range between 10 kW and 100 kW, were calculated. The annual energy production of the 100 kW wind turbine is 430 MWh with a capacity ...