New Zealand is dedicated to the Antarctic Treaty principles of environmental protection and as such is committed to reducing the environmental impacts of its operations. To this end, it has teamed up with Australia’s largest renewable electricity generator, Meridian Energy, to install three 333-kW turbines, which will reduce the amount of diesel required for power generation by around 463,000 litres and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 1,242 tonnes per year. Substituting renewable wind energy for existing fossil fuel use cuts greenhouse gas emissions as well as reducing the risks associated with transporting and storing liquid fuel at Scott Base, they explain. The wind farm forms part of Antarctica New Zealand's contribution to the joint logistics pool with the United States Antarctic Program.
Investigations for the project began early in 2005, and funding was secured in April 2008. Site works for the project began in November 2008 and the first construction phase of the project was completed in February 2009. Despite construction of the three turbines posing a great challenge, with ambient temperatures reach as low as 57ºC below freezing, the wind farm was official opened in January 2010 and now sends power to the electrical grids of both Scott Base and McMurdo Station.
The Ross Island wind farm is not the first to be built in the Antarctic. Two wind turbines supply electricity to the Australian Mawson Station, while Argentina's Esperanza Station is equipped with a turbine used to generate hydrogen.
One of the particularities of the entire project is the issue of logistics, since materials and equipment can only be shipped in once a year. Planning must therefore be meticulous. "Everything had to be well planned down to the last nut and bolt," said Scott Bennett, project manager of Meridian Energy, the state electric company in New Zealand that built and operates the turbines. Assembly of the 37-metre high turbines also took two years, partly because the only suitable weather window is between November and February. The cost of the €5.8 million project was mainly covered by the New Zealand government.
If the wind farm is successful, others could follow, while the use of solar power is also under consideration, said Bennett. The test phase will last for a year and further developments with the potential to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions at McMurdo Station and Scott Base by up to 50% are under investigation.
The Ross Island wind farm can be viewed via a webcam.
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