Winterwind 2020 was arranged just before the global COVID 19-pandemic. What’s your thoughts and hopes for the postponement for the international conference to April 19-21 2021?
We will adhere to the rules and recommendations imposed by the authorities, hoping that travelling and meeting bans will have been lifted prior to the conference. If this is not the case, we will make Winterwind a digital conference, which means that all preparations by the program committee have to/can be made independently of the actual COVID-19 state at the time of the conference.
What’s your thoughts for the program committee?
The members of the Winterwind program committee has changed slightly from last year. As some of our previous members have moved upwards in their organisations they’ve now been replaced by some other excellent people. From Nordconsult in Norway we’ve Rolv Erlend Bredesen, a specialist in meteorological icing and ice throw and from Energiewerkstatt in Austria comes Alexander Stoekl. Alexander has studied the performance of wind turbines in icing conditions as well as the risk of ice throw. Sven-Erik Thor, a former R&D manager of wind energy at Vattenfall will continue to serve as will Canada’s Charles Godreau from Nergica.
What are your thoughts on Winterwind 2021’s focus on Health, Safety and Environment?
The theme of Winterwind 2021 will be HSE – Health, Safety and Environment – a natural step from the O&M, Operation & Maintenance topics at Winterwind 2020. While we still will discuss de-/anti-icing technologies and strategies, meteorology, cloud physics, ice detection and other matters, it’s the local health and safety situation perceived by the service staff that will determine the quality of work carried out. Low temperatures and icing at remote locations require proper risk analysis to be carried out and widely accepted and communicated mitigation plans to be readily available. Nature has a tendency to heal slowly at cold climate locations and, consequently, care has to be taken not to cause any unnecessary disturbances. Such considerations are important also to maintain and increase public trust in the wind energy sector.
Do you have any recommendations for the abstracts?
Stick to cold climate related subjects.
Call for Abstracts – submit your abstract here! Deadline 27 November!
For information about the abstracts and program please contact Göran Ronsten at abstracts@winterwind.se or +46 (0)70 594 65 70.
