RWE Innogy, in partnership with the operator of Eneco Luchterduinen offshore wind farm, has installed a floating LiDAR off the Dutch coast.
As it follows a successfully trial completion of an innovative offshore buoy for measuring wind and wave data, the LiDAR was deployed for the purpose of testing further technical configurations with various manufacturers.
The newly launched trial is part of the world’s largest validation trials of floating LiDAR, that were recently commenced by the Offshore Wind Accelerator (a research initiative from the UK Carbon Trust involving the major offshore wind farm operators). The first trial conducted in 2014 was supported by the research and development programme FLOW (Far and Large Offshore Wind), funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.
“By testing different floating LiDAR units we help to increase the confidence in this innovative technology and to reduce cost for offshore wind parks in the long-term” , said project manager Niels Bijkersma from RWE Innogy. “At the same time we allow individual manufacturers to work towards the commercial acceptance of their buoys while gaining some valuable hands-on experience for our own projects.”
Floating LiDAR systems are expected to only cost 10 to 20 percent of a conventional measuring mast, indicating huge potential to make a considerable contribution to cutting development costs of offshore wind farms.