The lidar unit will help identify where improvement in production of the turbine generators is possible.
ZephIR Lidar has installed a turbine-mounted ZephIR DM wind lidar on the 270-MW Lincs Offshore Wind Farm. Located five miles off the Skegness coast, Lincs Wind Farm is a joint venture between Centrica Energy, Siemens Project Ventures, and DONG Energy. It is anticipated that the installation of the lidar unit will help to identify opportunities where a possible improvement to production from the installed 75 Siemens 3.6-MW wind turbine generators can be achieved.
“The effective operation of our renewable energy generating assets such as the Lincs Wind Farm is key,” said Martin Stanyon, Performance Manager at Centrica Energy, who are the operators of Lincs Offshore Wind Farm. “The turbine-mounted ZephIR DM, allows us to accurately measure the performance of each turbine on Lincs, easily identifying areas for increased production through O&M strategies such as corrected yaw misalignment.”
ZephIR Dual Mode (DM) is a continuous wave wind lidar, installed on the nacelle of a turbine and uniquely provides rotor-equivalent wind measurements out in advance of a wind turbine from just 10 meters, well within the blade induction zone, and as far as 300 meters. The circular scan from ZephIR DM provides a representative wind picture that the turbine sees, in contrast to more basic systems that provide only a pillar-box view on the approaching wind.
Measurements are typically used for the correction of yaw misalignment, turbine calibrations, end-of warranty inspections, power curve measurements (absolute and relative), R&D projects and full turbine control. The dual-mode function also allows for ground-based installations in front of turbines onshore for further analysis.
Lincs Offshore Wind Farm was officially opened by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on August 1, 2013. Construction started in 2010 with first power achieved in August 2012 and the last of the Siemens 3.6 MW turbines lifted into place on March 31, 2013. The Centrica O&M team will use ZephIR DM as a permanent tool for the wind farm, to monitor and safeguard individual turbine performance and overall energy production.
Ian Locker, Managing Director at ZephIR Lidar commented: “We are very pleased to see ZephIR wind lidar technology being adopted in to the core operational strategy of wind farms onshore, and with Lincs, offshore. Our customers tell us that they are seeing real production improvements through high-resolution advanced wind measurements delivered by ZephIR DM.”
Zephir Ltd.
www.zephirlidar.com
Filed Under: Generators, News, Offshore wind, Sensors, Uncategorized
