Constellation, le dépôt institutionnel de l'Université du Québec à Chicoutimi

Résumé

The wind power industry has been growing at a phenomenal pace during the last decade. Everywhere on this planet, more and more wind farms of variable sizes can be seen. It should not be forgotten, despite the sector's rapid growth, that the profitability of wind farm projects can be jeopardized by many constraints. Operation in cold climate and icing events are amongst those constraints. The main objectives of this study are the identification of icing events affecting two sites located in Canada, and the evaluation of the performance losses due to the icing events. It is assumed, in this work, that ice accretions on blades will generate aerodynamic disruptions that could lead to complete plant stoppage. In order to achieve the stated objectives, 4 years of operational data were assembled and analyzed. Corresponding data provided by Environment Canada were also used. 23 icing events lasting 308 hours on site 1 and 19 icing events totaling 213 hours on site 2 have been identified. During the icing events, the wind turbine of reference is completely stopped in 2% of all cases. When the wind turbine stays in operation, average power losses of 26% to 27% are observed. Annual energy losses range from 766 kWh to 24298 kWh. These results show that a complete financial analysis of a wind farm project should include precise prediction of performance losses. Furthermore, operation procedures during an icing event should be modified in order to reduce risks and maximize production.