• Aim of the project is to reduce Casey Research Station’s reliance on diesel fuel and move towards renewable energy

Abu Dhabi: Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, and the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) have successfully installed the first solar panel system at an Australian Antarctic station, it was announced today.

The solar installation will provide up to 30 kW of electric power to the Casey research station, located on Vincennes Bay in the Windmill Islands, just outside the Antarctic Circle, during the Austral summer months. The aim of the project, which is the first solar array providing power to an Australian Antarctic research station, is to reduce the reliance on diesel fuel, which is delivered yearly by the AAD’s Antarctic icebreaker, the Aurora Australis, from Hobart, Tasmania – a journey of 3,443km.

The initiative is part of a collaborative project between the AAD and Masdar on several unique and exciting projects. These include providing the solar PV system to Casey research station, building an energy management system, sponsoring a Khalifa University research project to improve the monitoring of changes in the Antarctic sea ice, and enabling young Emirati professionals to visit Casey as interns, such as Tawaddod Alkindi, an alumna of Khalifa University [pictured].

Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, said: “As a global leader in renewable energy, Masdar is honoured to collaborate with the AAD to bring our expertise in clean energy from the hot deserts of the UAE to the cold desert of Antarctica as we strive to implement practical energy solutions, support research on climate change and environmental protection in line with the Antarctic Treaty System.”

The solar PV panels, sourced from German company Aleo Solar, have been built to withstand extreme weather conditions in the Antarctic, the coldest continent on earth, where katabatic wind speeds can reach nearly 300 km/h and the average temperature ranges from -10 degrees Celsius to -60 degrees Celsius depending on the time of year.

The solar PV panels were shipped from Germany to Hobart, Tasmania, and from there to Casey by the Aurora Australis in December 2018. After extensive simulations conducted by Masdar and the technical team at Casey, it was decided that the solar panels would be mounted in a vertical position on the northern façade of Casey’s “green store” building.

Australian Antarctic Division Director Kim Ellis said the special mounting of the panels would strike a balance between maximum solar gain and stability in the wind, as well as ensuring the panels were easy to install, access and maintain.

He said the system of 105 solar panels would provide about 10 per cent of the station’s total energy demand.

“This is the first solar power array at an Australian Antarctic research station and amongst the largest in Antarctica,” Ellis said. “It will reduce Casey station’s reliance on diesel generators for electricity, cutting fuel costs and emissions, as well as boosting the station’s capacity in peak demand periods. Once we see how it performs as part of the station’s power grid, we’ll be able to look at how to get more out of the technology in the future.”

-Ends-

Breakout Box: Five facts about Casey research station

  • Casey research station is Australia’s third Antarctic station and was opened in 1969, after Mawson station in 1954 and Davis station in 1957.
  • The station is named after the late Lord Richard Casey, a politician, diplomat and Australia’s Governor-General, who championed Australia’s Antarctic interests in the 1950s and 1960s.
  • The original Casey station was a novel design at the time. Buildings were elevated on scaffolding pipe to allow the flow-through of violent winds, while living and sleeping quarters and some work buildings were built in a straight line connected by an aerodynamic corrugated iron tunnel.
  • The current station was built in the 1980s and opened in 1988. Its buildings are constructed with a steel frame on concrete foundations and thick insulating panels to provide more comfortable and safer facilities to support scientific programmes.
  • A large number of scientific programmes are supported in and around Casey, including an international project studying the bedrock geology and overlying East Antarctic ice sheet, monitoring of Adélie penguin populations, novel underwater ocean acidification experiments and research on some of the most extensive and well developed moss beds in Antarctica.

About Masdar
Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company Masdar is advancing the commercialization and deployment of renewable energy, sustainable urban development and clean technologies to address global sustainability challenges.

Wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company, the strategic investment company of the Government of Abu Dhabi, our mandate is to help maintain the UAE’s leadership in the global energy sector, while supporting the diversification of both its economy and energy sources for the benefit of future generations. Masdar’s renewable energy projects are located in the UAE, Jordan, Mauritania, Egypt, Morocco, the UK, Serbia and Spain.

About the Australian Antarctic Division
The Australian Antarctic Division is a Division of the Australian Government’s Department of the Environment and Energy. The Division leads Australia’s Antarctic program and seeks to advance Australia’s Antarctic interests in pursuit of its vision of having ‘Antarctica valued, protected and understood’. It does this by managing Australian government activity in Antarctica, providing transport and logistic support to Australia’s Antarctic research program, maintaining four permanent Australian research stations, and conducting scientific research programs both on land and in the Southern Ocean.

About aleo solar
Incorporated in 2001, aleo is recognised as one of the most trustworthy manufacturers of high efficiency solar panels. The company produces all its products at its plant in Prenzlau, Germany. Aleo lives by strong values that pushes the company to pursue industrial excellence. Aleo solar is part of the Taiwanese wafer manufacturer SAS (Sino American Silicon Products Inc.) since 2014. This makes aleo solar part of a high-performance solar manufacturer that covers the entire photovoltaic value chain from the development and production of high-performance ingots, wafers and cells to the delivery of solar modules.

Contacts:
E-mail: press@masdar.ae
Tel enquiries in Arabic: +971 2 653 3333
Tel enquiries in English: +971 2 653 6014
For more information please visit: http://www.masdar.ae  and connect: facebook.com/masdar.ae  and twitter.com/masdar

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