March 14, 2019
The Wind Energy Institute of Canada (WEICan), a non profit research institute whose mandate is to advance the development of wind energy across Canada, received an Award for Engineering Achievement from the Office of Lieutenant Governor – Government of Prince Edward Island for its work within the national wind energy community, in particular for the industry knowledge resulting from the Project of Energy Research & Development (PERD) and the Generating Availability Data System (GADS) Project. Both projects were supported by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).
PERD tested various grid operator dispatch scenarios specific to wind/energy storage in collaboration with industry and research participants. This project saw WEICan collaborate with several partners, including Maritime Electric, Saskatchewan Research Council, the Alberta Electric System Operator, Enercon, and DeWind. A total of four different test scenarios were developed with input from electric system operators. The project investigated the effect of increasing levels of variable wind generation on the electric grid, in a Canadian context. PERD has already produced several research publications and has generated interest at numerous international conferences.
In the GADS project, WEICan collated a national-level wind farm generation and availability database. WEICan, together with the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA), co-ordinated data gathering efforts from numerous Canadian wind farm owners and operators. WEICan's efforts encompass database management, data analysis and report generation. As the database grows, it is expected to have tremendous value, both for research and planning purposes.
The Engineers PEI Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Engineering Achievement recognizes an outstanding engineering project involving Engineers PEI members. The award is presented annually, during National Engineering Month, to an individual, team, company, government department or consortium of Professional Engineers, who through original achievement in the application of engineering principles, creative accomplishment in the application of engineering principles and excellence in engineering design, demonstrates a high quality of Professional Engineering standards. The project should enhance the image of the profession, show economic benefit and highlight engineering leadership in the practice of engineering.
The award was presented to the WEICan team on Wednesday, March 13, 2019 at the Governor’s House in Charlottetown.