In response to Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) grid compliance, ZephIR has replaced the operational met mast on Port Ryerse Wind Farm, Ontario, Canada with the company’s 300 wind LiDAR (light detection and ranging device — LiDAR uses light to measure wind characteristics). The wind farm consists of Siemens 3-MW SWT3.0-113 with 99.5m hub height, de-rated at 2.5 MW. The LiDAR measures from just 10 up to 200 meters, providing the necessary wind speed and direction at 50 m, hub height and 110 m — as well as temperature, pressure, and humidity all from the single device.
The ZephIR 300 wind lidar can be used extensively through project siting, planning, development, construction, and operation.
In Ontario, Canada, IESO requires that market participants maintaining wind farms from 10 to 100 MW have at least one local meteorological measurement device, such as LiDAR.
“The cost of permanent met masts is close to the cost of a permanent met LiDAR, but when you include the additional met mast land lease for 20 years, the mast’s visual impact and higher maintenance costs,” said Olivier Parent, Project Manager – Development, at Boralex. “We chose the ZephIR 300 wind LiDAR because of its proven strengths when operating in our Canadian environments where the atmosphere is particularly clear and sites can be high altitudes”
Permanent Met Lidars allow for power performance measurements, noise assessments, insurance, and outage claims and for improving local forecasting for energy trading. Once on site the LiDAR can further assist with providing wind information during any component exchange or maintenance on the wind farm that requires crane lifting. SCADA integration further allows LiDAR data to be directly incorporated in to the turbine OEM’s Meteo system.
“The IESO Data Requirements for wind farms are forward looking and allow for technologies such as LiDAR to be used,” said Matthew Smith, responsible for ZephIR Lidar’s activities in Canada. “More and more grid operators are following suit and the demand for Permanent met Lidars is growing annually. We continue to work hard with wind farm operators to seamlessly integrate ZephIR 300 in to their data and SCADA systems.”
With more than 700 MW of wind projects, Boralex commands a majority share of the Canadian wind market. The company’s latest project, Port Ryerse Wind Farm, sees the deployment of a ZephIR 300 wind Lidar in accordance with grid operator IESO’s requirement for permanent measurements on site while further benefiting from improved health and safety practices in addition to the very low visual impact of the Lidar when compared to a traditional tall metal tower.
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