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Ice Throw The Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition is concerned about the possibility of ice throw hazards which may be presented by large-scale wind turbine installations within our community. This is an area which is the subject of continuing research by us.
The ice-throw hazard associated with turbine rotor blades results from the possibility of pieces or sheets of ice being “thrown” from spinning rotor blades once climatic conditions cause the ice to be “shed” from the rotor blades. As we understand it, ice throw is not a problem in the case of many wind power generation facilities. For example, wind power generation facilities in the southern United States do not encounter this problem since warm climatic conditions preclude any icing of rotor blades in the first place. By way of another example, the ice throw hazard does not become a problem in many northern United States wind power generation facilities, since those facilities are installed in areas of low population density where land use patterns are such that lands in the vicinity of a wind turbine are not used by people during the winter months ( e.g. , large-scale agricultural operations in Minnesota). This is not the case, however, within our community. First, many parts of our community within the area which Brascan/SWEI has proposed for large-scale wind power development are not sparsely populated. Second, and just as significantly, much of the land within the proposed large-scale wind power development area is actually used quite intensely used during the winter months – for example, for hiking, snow-shoeing, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing. These are activities on which many of our community's residents and visitors place a high value. The Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition has not completed its research regarding the “ice throw” hazard. It may be that the possible ice throw hazard can be effectively managed through appropriate set back restrictions from neighbouring properties, hiking trails, snowmobile trails, roadways, etc. It may also be that there are other ways in which any ice throw hazard can be effectively managed. For example, heated rotor blades may prevent any accumulation of ice in the first place. As well, turbine shutdown requirements could be imposed for those periods when ice build-up on the rotor blades occurs. The Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition considers it essential that the ice throw hazard issue be researched and considered carefully as a part of the wind power development decision-making process within our community.
Click here for a Finnish article on the risk analysis of ice throw from wind turbines. Click here for the section of the Country Guardian's "The Case Against Windfarms" document which deals with ice throw. About the Photo - The above photo was taken on the Tenth Concession of Grey Highlands by a coalition member.
Copyright, The Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition, 2004. All rights reserved.
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The ice throw hazard relates to the process whereby climatic conditions during winter can result in a build-up of ice on the rotor blades of a wind turbine tower structure when the blades are not moving. Planes' wings go through a similar icing process; we're all aware of the need for a plane's wings to be “de-iced” prior to take-off.