Wind farm turns Antarctica area green
Source: Agencies |
January 17, 2010, Sunday
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A SMALL part of Antarctica turned green yesterday as the ice-covered continent's biggest wind farm, which can generate enough electricity to power 500 homes, was formally switched on.
The joint New Zealand-US project's three huge turbines will provide 11 percent of the power needed to run the two nations' science bases on Antarctica's Ross Sea coast.
They will cut greenhouse gas output, lower fossil fuel use and reduce the risk of fuel spilling in the continent's pristine environment, officials said.
The US$11 million wind farm is located on Crater Hill, halfway between the US McMurdo Station and New Zealand's nearby Scott Base.
While the turbines have been operating well since December, the formal turn-on ceremony took place yesterday, with New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully and US Ambassador David Huebner officiating by video link with the site from New Zealand's northern city of Auckland.
Noting the two countries shared a commitment to increase the world's use of renewable energy resources, McCully said it was "fitting we have worked so hard together to get this wind farm up and running in Antarctica, one of the world's most pristine and fragile environments."
The farm has a power output of about 1 megawatt and could cut annual diesel use at the bases by 460,000 liters and reduce annual carbon dioxide output by 1,370 tons, said a spokesman for the turbine company.
Each of the towers -- set into precast concrete foundations frozen into place -- is designed to withstand wind gusts of up to 205 kilometers per hour.
The joint New Zealand-US project's three huge turbines will provide 11 percent of the power needed to run the two nations' science bases on Antarctica's Ross Sea coast.
They will cut greenhouse gas output, lower fossil fuel use and reduce the risk of fuel spilling in the continent's pristine environment, officials said.
The US$11 million wind farm is located on Crater Hill, halfway between the US McMurdo Station and New Zealand's nearby Scott Base.
While the turbines have been operating well since December, the formal turn-on ceremony took place yesterday, with New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully and US Ambassador David Huebner officiating by video link with the site from New Zealand's northern city of Auckland.
Noting the two countries shared a commitment to increase the world's use of renewable energy resources, McCully said it was "fitting we have worked so hard together to get this wind farm up and running in Antarctica, one of the world's most pristine and fragile environments."
The farm has a power output of about 1 megawatt and could cut annual diesel use at the bases by 460,000 liters and reduce annual carbon dioxide output by 1,370 tons, said a spokesman for the turbine company.
Each of the towers -- set into precast concrete foundations frozen into place -- is designed to withstand wind gusts of up to 205 kilometers per hour.
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