Companies looking to test and verify new lidar technologies onshore can now access ORE Catapult’s 7MW Levenmouth Demonstration Turbine in Fife.
The turbine’s onshore met mast enables the testing, demonstration and validation of lidar systems, providing high quality wind resources and environmental data that aid developers and manufacturers in comparing and validating new remote sensing techniques against traditional methods.
The new onshore capability complements the Catapult’ existing offshore floating lidar verification service using its Offshore Anemometry Hub (NOAH), 3nm off the coast of Blyth, Northumberland. Leading industry players such as Axys and EOLOS have all successfully demonstrated their technologies at NOAH.
Chris Hill, ORE Catapult’s Operational Performance Director, said: “Installing met masts for monitoring environmental conditions at new offshore renewable installations is time-consuming and expensive. Lidar presents a more cost-effective option for developers, but these technologies still need to be tested and verified against existing installations.
“Our unique facilities at the 7MW Levenmouth Turbine, and at our test centre in Blyth, allow innovators to develop, test, demonstrate and validate new technologies and we are always expanding our facilities and capabilities to meet industry need. In this case, our met mast at Levenmouth represents the only coastal location in the UK that offers lidar verification services, making it ideal for developers to test and verify their remote sensor technologies.”
Leanne Ramage, Head of Projects at Natural Power, said: “It is great to see Catapult open a facility that supports the verification of remote sensing technology. Validation of data from remote sensing devices will ensure a robust comparison to traditional cup anemometry data, which will serve to improve uncertainties in any measurement campaign and subsequent finance grade yield assessment.”
Alan Mortimer, director of innovation at Wood, said: “We are delighted with the introduction of ORE Catapult’s Lidar test facility at Levenmouth. It is extremely encouraging to see new capabilities of this type coming forward, particularly in the case of lidar which has so much to offer the wind industry in the drive for optimised performance and reduced costs. Having successfully confirmed Wood’s latest lidar technology through testing at Levenmouth, I believe this new test facility will benefit the whole wind sector.”