Tending to Our Wind Turbines | Friday, February 19, 2010
As you may know, Yukon Energy has two experimental wind turbines on Haeckel Hill near Whitehorse. Together, they can power up to 150 homes. This week an article in the Yukon News stated that our wind turbines have fallen into disrepair after years of neglect. That is a false statement and we feel it's important that we correct the record. Here are a few pieces of information we would like you to know:
- If you look up at Haeckel Hill and see that the turbine blades aren't turning, that doesn't necessarily mean the turbines are broken. They will not generate power if there’s not enough wind, if there’s too much wind, or if there is rime ice on the blades which prevents them from turning. Rime icing is a huge challenge for us. We have tried a number of things to address this issue including applying special paint to the blades to try to repel the ice, and heating the blades. Nothing has worked very well.
- At times when the turbines require repair, it’s not always possible to do so right away. In the winter especially, it is often unsafe for staff to do repairs and we must wait until weather conditions improve before we will allow employees to do the work. Safety is always the first priority.
- Many of the parts on a wind turbine are not simple, off the shelf components; they need to be ordered from elsewhere – often either the U.S. or Europe – and they can take several weeks to arrive.
- There is not a crane in the Yukon big enough to use for repairs on the wind turbines. A few years ago we required a crane and had to bring one up from Southern Canada at a cost of $180-thousand dollars.
- In terms of our maintenance schedule, we do regular maintenance on our wind turbines just as we do on all our other assets. We are very conscious of the fact that Yukon Energy's assets belong to all Yukoners and that we have a duty to maintain them properly.
In spite of the challenges we face with wind, we are still looking at it as one part of an overall clean, renewable energy regime. We are studying Ferry Hill near Stewart Crossing as a possible site for a wind farm and we are also looking at the possibility of a 20 megawatt wind farm at Mt. Sumanik near Whitehorse. But under the best conditions, wind only operates 30 percent of the time. So that means for every megawatt of wind power we build, we need to build a megawatt of something else, since it is needed for the 70 percent of the time that the wind turbines aren't producing power.
» 0 Comments » Topics: Reliability
Public Meeting at Tagish | Monday, February 15, 2010
Tagish property owners and residents are invited to a public meeting this Wednesday evening (Feb. 17th) at 7 p.m. at the Tagish Community Centre. We'll be talking to you about some ideas we have for increasing the amount of hydro power we can produce at our Whitehorse plant. These ideas involve increased winter storage on Marsh Lake and some winter storage on Atlin Lake. Please contact us through this blog if you require more information. Hope to see you there.
» 0 Comments » Topics: News
A Mild Week | Monday, February 15, 2010
So far 2010's weather has been relatively mild for most areas of Yukon. That means we have had to use very little diesel over the last several weeks to supplement our hydro system. Nonetheless, we always encourage customers to treat electricity as the precious resource that it is and to use it responsibly and wisely. Here you'll find this week's expected power usage on our transmission line that serves much of the Southern and Central Yukon.
We have had suggestions from a few of you about ways of improving the readibility of this chart. We think your ideas are good ones and we are working to make your suggested changes. Stay tuned!
» 0 Comments » Topics: Energy Conservation
Be Prepared! | Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Winter storms, power outages, floods...no one likes to have to deal with unexpected situations like this. But the more planning you do and the better prepared you are prior to any emergency, the easier it will be to cope once one does occur. That's why we have produced a Yukon Emergency Preparedness booklet. If you live in Yukon, watch for a paper copy in English to arrive in your mailbox in the next few weeks. French copies will be available upon request.
We would like to thank Manitoba Hydro, Yukon's Emergency Measures Organization and the Yukon government's French Language Services Directorate for their assistance with this project.
» 0 Comments » Topics: Safety
This Week’s Projected Energy Usage | Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Throughout the winter, we have been providing regular updates as to what we think the upcoming weekly power usage will be on our Whitehorse-Aisihihik-Faro transmission system. This week's forecast can be found here.
» 0 Comments » Topics: Energy Conservation
Squeezing the Most out of What We Have | Tuesday, February 2, 2010
As we work to meet the growing demand for electricity, we are committed to meeting that demand with clean energy. We feel it is our obligation to ensure, as much as possible, that the power we produce is from renewable sources. We believe that Northerners have a collective interest in keeping the environment clean.
To this end, Yukon Energy is looking at all possible sources of renewable energy, including geo-thermal, wind, and the enhancement of our existing hydro assets. Before we build any new hydro dams we want to make sure we are getting the most out of our existing facilities, since enhancement projects are far less expensive and have a smaller environmental footprint than new greenfield initiatives. At our Mayo plant, our enhancement work is in the form of our Mayo B project. At our Aishihik facility, we are adding a third turbine and looking to divert some water from Gladstone Creek to increase the amount of electricity we are able to produce. In Whitehorse, we have begun exploring the idea of increased winter storage on both Marsh Lake and Atlin Lake. To learn more we invite you to read this newsletter that outlines the concepts. Please contact us if you have any questions.
» 0 Comments » Topics: News