U of T Research Team Aims to Harness the Wind to Produce Clean Energy

Prof. Reza Iravani (left) and Dr. Armen Baronijan, Research Associate (right), conducting a test on the wind power experimental set-up at the University of Toronto.

Wind power – it’s clean and renewable. And it diversifies the energy supply.

But there’s one big problem with it. Because the wind doesn’t blow all the time, wind- generated power can be unpredictable. And that’s slowing its growth both in Ontario and around the world.

Devising a way to make wind power dependable is the goal of Dr. Reza Iravani and his research team at the Centre for Applied Power Electronics (CAPE). They’re embarking on a five-year, $10.5 million project, funded in part by the McGuinty government’s Ontario Research Fund, a program of the Ministry of Research and Innovation.

“The demand for electricity is growing quickly,” explains Dr. Iravani, a professor in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Toronto. “At the same time, governments are looking for ways to reduce greenhouse gases. Wind power could play a large role in achieving those dual objectives.
 
“Our solution is a power electronic converter system that will integrate a wind unit or wind farm with a battery energy storage system and that’s what we’re aiming to develop.”

While that may sound simple enough, there are a number of challenges to overcome. To start, the system must be very efficient and capture all the wind energy possible and store it in the battery or deliver it to a power grid. It must also be intelligent and release the right amount of power when it’s needed. Finally, the system must be able to coordinate with other systems throughout an energy grid, including hydro and nuclear power systems, in order to contribute to the overall efficiency and stability of an electrical utility system.

“This is a very new area of research,” says Dr. Iravani. “There have been some preliminary developments in the last two to three years, but we believe that with our expertise in research and development in this area, we have a very real chance of positioning Ontario as a technological leader in wind power production.”

Dr. Shashi Dewan, President of electrical industrial developer Digital Predictive Systems Inc. of Mississauga, agrees. His company is one of the private sector partners involved in Dr. Iravani’s project.

“There’s a huge market for this technology worldwide,” says Dr. Dewan. “While wind power still accounts for a relatively small portion of the electricity supply, it’s the fastest growing energy resource in the world. If we’re successful at commercializing this technology – and we aim to be – we’ll not only establish Ontario as a major player in the hydrogen economy, we’ll create new opportunities for start-up companies and high-tech jobs in the strategically important field of renewable energy.

“The potential benefit to Ontario is enormous.”