Vertical-axis wind turbine development in Canada

Recent Canadian progress in the development of the curved-blade Darrieus vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) is described. Co-operation between government, industry and power utilities in the conduct of field trials, over several years, has demonstrated inproved performance and reliability of grid-coupled turbines of this type. The rated power of the VAWTs currently under test ranges from 30kW, in a wind/diesel powerplant, to 230 kW, in an installation on an island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Progress has also been made in understaning the basic aerodynamic behaviour of the VAWT and theoretical methods for performance and load prediction have correspondingly improved. A brief description is given of `Project EOLE¿¿, a co-operative project between the federal government and the utility Hydro-Quebec to develop and test, during the next two to three years, a 4 MW VAWT prototype, which will be coupled to the power grid at a location on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River.