Risk assessment of wind farm development in ice proven area

Abstract

There many risks associated with wind farms operating in cold harsh areas, a number of these risks is caused by icing. Atmospheric and super-structure icing can cause ice accretion on wind turbines’ structure, and lead to public safety risks caused by ice throw and the failure of wind turbine’s components. Other risks can affect wind farm’s maintenance crew and their activities. Such risks are caused by snow accumulation and forming of sea ice, which can lead to limiting the access to wind turbines, and reducing their availability and the overall power production of the wind farm. Snow accumulation and ice accretion on wind turbines specifically and the wind farm generally induce different types of risks. Therefore, an analysis should be carried out to determine how the different types of icing and snow accumulation affect each part of a wind turbine and wind farm. A risk matrix is usually utilized to determine the rank of these risks and prioritize them, which will help in the decision-making process for risk mitigation.