The University of Maine has taken the wraps off a buoy-based data gathering system to enable wind speeds to be measured for proposed offshore windfarms.
The US university’s advanced composites centre partnered with industry to develop and build a buoy-based system that utilises laser-based technology to track wind speeds to turbine hub height equivalent of 200m, which is roughly the height of most currently available turbines deployed offshore.
Maine says its so-called Lidar buoy will enable windfarm developers to assess potential offshore sites for which data is not currently available.
The unit, which incorporates a modified Windcube v2 offshore Lidar remote sensor, is to be deployed initially alongside a one-eighth scale offshore wind turbine prototype. Installation off the coast at Castine is imminent. AWS Truepower will conduct validation of data collected by the floating system.
Lidar is a light detection and ranging system, which collects wind speed data by sending a laser beam into the s ky. Reflected light in the atmosphere is used to determine wind conditions.
“Floating Lidar technology, once fully validated, will provide us with a cost-effective method to assess the wind resource in areas traditionally off-limits to offshore wind developers,” said Habib Dagher, director of UMaine’s Composites Center.
Lidars are much used by the wind sector.
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