Grant: Alliance Grants

Canadian's wind farm greatly suffers from the enormous production losses during winter caused by icing conditions (up 2.5 M$/year or more for certain farms). Those losses diminsh the profitability of those wind farms, sometimes below their treshold of being profitable, and compromise new wind turbine development in Canada, preventing the creation of new sources of green energy so important for the future of the planet. Thanks to the study of those icing conditions, innovative materials, in the form of durable icephobic/superhydrophobic coatings, will be developed to be applied on the wind turbine blades. Those coatings will reduce to a minimum the problematics and production losses caused by icing by either preventing ice accumulation or by reducing its adherence to the blades. Also, performance and durability of the materials developed will be tested at the University of Quebec in Chicoutimi under highly representative test conditions at their state-of-the-art facilities. These coatings will lead to higher green energy production during the winter period, where demand is at its highest, and increase profitability of the Canadian's wind farm. They will also allow new sites with great wind energy potential in Canada to become a viable option for developers increasing the green energy offer in the country. The coating manufacturer will have state of the art products, that will be manufactured in the country, to provide for the wind energy Canadian and worldwide market.