We proudly present Rosemary Barnes, Pardalote, AU, as one of the keynotes of #Winterwind2021!
Climate resilience vs. low cost renewables
This winter’s extreme weather in Texas put the phenomenon of wind turbine icing into the mainstream. Extreme weather events like the Texas Freeze are predicted to become more common in the future due to climate change, and electricity grids along with other critical infrastructure will need to become more climate resilient as a result. All eyes are on blade heating and winterised wind turbines now, making this an unprecedented opportunity for the winter wind community. But it is also a challenge that will need to be carefully managed. Those of us working in the field know that there are technologies that – if installed – could have allowed Texas’ wind turbines to operate through the cold snap. But long-term climate resilience is not that simple. If every turbine in every site with a climate like Texas is winterised in the future, the main thing we will achieve will be to make wind energy very expensive, and only marginally more reliable. Future clean energy systems need to be low cost as well as reliable, and wind energy can’t be considered in isolation if we are going to achieve this. We will need to take a systemic approach to carefully consider what are the lowest cost technologies and market mechanisms to achieve a resilient electricity grid.
Rosemary Barnes is…
…the principal at Pardalote, a consulting service for energy transition technologies. She is an engineer specialising in new technology development, with over 15 years’ experience in the field including 4 years as the system owner of ice mitigation at LM Wind Power. She has bachelors degrees in systems engineering and philosophy from the Australian National University and a PhD in composite materials structural design from the University of New South Wales. She is also the owner of a YouTube channel: Engineering with Rosie, through which she educates and excites her audience about renewable energy technologies. Rosemary spends as much as possible of her spare time outdoors and is a keen skier, mountain biker and surfer.
Check out the preliminary program here!
Welcome to register here!
