The first sodar wind sensor at Boco Rock, similar to this one, was deployed on the site in August 2009.
Wind Prospect CWP (WPCWP), an independent renewable energy developer, says it has received planning permission to build the Boco Rock Wind farm near Nimmitabel, New South Wales, Australia. This wind farm of 122 turbines and a maximum capacity of 270 MW, is the first New South Wales wind farm development project for Wind Prospect and the second largest in the wind-rich state of NSW.
In developing Boco Rock, WPCWP used remote sensing measurement equipment developed by U.S.-based Second Wind Inc. WPCWP deployed three Triton Sonic Wind Profilers at locations around the Boco Rock site to measure hub height wind speeds and validate the shear profile above the height of the site’s meteorological towers. The met towers were instrumented with Second Wind’s Nomad 2 data loggers.
Triton is an advanced remote sensing system that uses sodar (sound detection and ranging) technology to measure wind at higher heights than the previous tower-based standard. By measuring wind speeds at the turbine rotor’s hub height and beyond (up to 200 meters), Triton reduces uncertainty in annual energy production (AEP) forecasts. The unit’s ease of deployment also streamlines the wind farm development process.
The first sodar wind sensor was deployed on the Boco Rock site in August 2009. “The Tritons,” says Ed Mounsey, development director of WPCWP, “gave us a much improved understanding of the site’s hub height wind resources, letting us reduce the uncertainty of our power performance and annual energy production forecasts.” The towers and Nomad 2 data loggers were installed in 2008. WPCWP also has the sodar unit deployed at two other sites in New South Wales and plans to continue using sodar as key components of their wind assessment studies. Construction will begin at Boco Rock in mid-2011, with a target completion date in 2013. The wind farm has the potential to produce over 840,000 MWh per annum.
Second Wind Inc.
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