The Princess Elisabeth Antarctic research station is designed to operate on a combination of wind and solar power, marking a significant step forward for renewable technologies that must withstand the continent’s extreme weather conditions.

Officially opened on 15 February 2009, the station acts as a technological showcase and a launch pad for wider understanding of climate mechanisms.

The Belgian Federal Government commissioned the International Polar Foundation (IPF) to build the zero carbon research station, which is aimed at providing valuable environmental data and informing the world about climate change and its consequences. The station accommodates up to 48 scientists during the austral summer season and twelve during the austral winter season.

Turbines triumph

The ‘zero emission’ station marks a major change in polar building design, with most stations relying on diesel generators because no wind turbines, until now, were thought to be robust enough for such extreme conditions.

Eight 9 metre-high wind turbines sit atop the Utsteinen mountain ridge to the north of the station, generating a total power output of 54 kilowatt peak (kWp). The turbines produce approximately 90 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity per annum. The eight wind turbines currently in operation can withstand temperatures of minus 60°C and winds of over 90 miles per second.

They will be operating in average winds of 20 kilometres per hour and winter gusts of over 250 kilometres per hour. By taking advantage of the katabatic winds, 48 kilowatts (kW) of cumulative power is currently provided by the eight operating turbines. This will increase to 54 kWp once the ninth turbine has been mounted. The electricity generated is expected to be the highest output of any small wind power system in the world.

Directly connected to a direct-drive generator, the turbines have self-regulating rotors in order to adapt to changes in wind intensity and direction.

Proven Energy, a Scottish-based small wind turbine manufacturer, supplied the 6 kWp turbines.

The turbines are designed to work in extreme environments. The company’s previous installations have weathered ice storms in Slovenia and typhoons in Japan.

A totally encapsulated, direct-drive, permanent magnet generator ensures that maintenance is kept to a bare minimum with very few moving parts. This type of system does not require a gearbox, minimising maintenance and reducing noise levels considerably. The generators are manufactured by Proven in-house.

The blades design allows them to bend and flex in the wind similar to the branches of a tree. In higher winds, the blades ‘cone’ out of the wind rather than resist the force. Blending with natural forces rather than resisting, means the blades last longer, allowing the turbine to survive the extreme Antarctic winds.

Sun and ice

In addition to the wind turbines, both solar thermal and photovoltaic solar panels are being used on the building itself.

The station’s exterior is covered by 408 Kyocera solar PV panels. Of these, 120 panels are attached to the walls and roof of the station and the remaining 288 panels are positioned on top of the station’s technical building. Panels totalling 270 square metres are located on the rocks next to the station.

The PV panels are expected to provide a total energy output of 52 kWp, with an annual electricity production of approximately 45.7 MWh per annum.

While most of the panels are positioned towards the north for maximum sun exposure, some panels also face in other directions in order to take advantage of the sun at different times of the day.

The station is also equipped with 24 square metres of thermal solar panels. Like the PV panels, the Consolar solar thermal panels are orientated towards the north to make optimal use of sunlight. A first series of solar panels (18 square metres), located on the station’s roof, generates heat for the water used in the kitchen, bathroom and water treatment unit.

The remaining solar thermal panels, located on top of the garages, provide enough heat to melt the snow, providing a source of drinking water. Heat will also be stored in hot water.

Intelligent and efficient design

The Princess Elisabeth Station combines eco-friendly construction material, clean and efficient energy use, optimisation of the station’s energy consumption and the best waste management techniques. These leading techniques and facilities aim to reduce the station’s ecological footprint on the pristine environment of Antarctica, as well as follow and go beyond the principals set forth by the Antarctic Treaty.

A passive building

The station is conceived to take full advantage of currently available passive building techniques. The station’s outer ‘skin’, insulation, shape, orientation and window disposition allow a comfortable ambient temperature to be maintained inside the building with little energy input. Without any heating device, the station is able to maintain an average temperature of 18°C.

While the geometry of the station’s windows allows the station to benefit from both solar passive and active gain, the station’s thermal insulation minimises any heat loss through the station’s walls and floor. Each one of the side panels that makes up the walls of the station are made up of seven consecutive layers, totalling 60 cm in thickness.

In addition to this insulation, the building’s envelope is lined with a waterproofing material, ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), a synthetic rubber lining membrane that prevents air leaks. The station is also equipped with three high efficiency ventilation units capable of recovering both heat and humidity. The ventilation system works on two fronts to transport both foul and fresh air using ducts, outlets and fire dampers; and to ventilate the rooms using the energy recovery system, ventilators and regulation device.

Zero emission

In order to make the station a ‘zero emission’ station, its electrical systems had to be as energy efficient as possible. All station systems are integrated and piloted by an intelligent central unit, which ensures that working and living conditions inside the station are optimised with minimal resource consumption. This centralised control of interdependent systems also allows for remote monitoring during the winter.

The station’s energy management requires maintaining the equilibrium of the entire network, from the energy produced by the solar panels and wind turbines to the energy used within. Based on instructions programmed into the central unit by the station’s users, priority is given to some systems over others and, depending on the time of day, to some locations over others.

A battery grid consisting of four double valve-regulated lead acid (VRLA) battery packs, with a total capacity of 8,000 ampere hours, helps store and release energy produced by the wind turbines and solar panels as needed.

New ventures on the Antarctic ice

Princess Elisabeth Station Program Administrator and IPF Vice President Nighat Amin wrote in the station’s weekly blog, Live from Antarctica, that “The station has become accustomed to us even as we try to become accustomed to her, her humming and gurgling vitals accompanying our long days. We marvel at every new delight, the singing washing machines that warn us when our laundry (what a marvel) is done. And the hot water in the showers! So amazed are we that we actually put off using them. ‘What about the water?’ ‘What if we run out of water?’, we cry while looking for excuses for putting off how civilisation catches up with us, even out here where we have lived for so many cold months in the frigid and intimate embrace of Antarctica.”

Commenting on the achievements of the station, the IPF has said the ‘zero emission’ station establishes a new reference for scientific research facilities and raises new standards within the Antarctic community.

Nighat Amin said “The advance design methodology, the balance of new and proven technologies installed in the station, the intelligent integration to achieve the ‘zero emission’ target, the private sector involvement in the financing, and the private/public partnership for future operations, are all innovative aspects which open up new possibilities for designing polar research stations in the future.”

Alain Hubert, Program Director of the Princess Elisabeth Station project and IPF’s founding President, said “The Princess Elisabeth station attests that there is growing public interest in projects carrying a message of sustainable development, especially in terms of energy management. By addressing matters of public concern, this project thus sets new goals for the international community. The conception of a ‘zero emission’ building capable of standing up to the extreme conditions of the Antarctic goes to show that similar techniques can also be deployed in more temperate areas of the world.”

The research station will be run by a Polar Secretariat. The station’s estimated time of life is at least 25 years.

For more information visit www.antarcticstation.org