M. Rodgers, A. Medd, T. Levy, Syncing Up the Data: Project Aims to Standardize Wind-Turbine Information in Canada, Wind Systems Magazine, September 2016

Introduction

At the end of 2015, Canada had commissioned more than 11,000 MW of wind-power capacity, and even more wind farms will be coming online in the coming years. Although the wind industry supplies approximately 5 percent of Canada’s electricity needs, to date it has not benefited from a broad and consistent understanding with respect to its performance, especially when compared to data that is available for traditional forms of energy.

While some sources of information do exist with regards to wind-energy data, these tend to conflict with each other and typically underestimate basic details such as tracking current installed wind-energy capacity. With the current federal and provincial focus on climate change, it is increasingly important to have access to reliable and consistently produced baseline data for renewable energy — in particular wind energy — which is one of the fastest growing sources of new electricity in Canada. Moreover, as wind parks transition from construction to operation and maintenance, the need for comparative statistics also increases. Power generation is a competitive business, and when electricity prices are low, wind energy has extremely low margins due to lack of fuel costs. So it is critical to track all causes and occurrences of downtime to direct process improvements and forecast future expenditures.

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