World’s Most Powerful Wind Turbine Comes Equipped with Lidar

Wind turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa has released details of new wind Lidar technology now installed on the company’s SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbine.

The ‘ZX TM’ Continuous Wave Lidar system has been integrated by Siemens Gamesa and is now a standard option for the turbine allowing for a fully IEC-compliant power curve measurement to be undertaken without the need for a met mast, ZX Lidars said.

In addition, this Lidar’s unique ability to see the wind ahead of the turbine across 50 points distributed across the whole rotor is said to unlock additional value throughout the lifetime of the turbine, optimising customer assets offshore based on the wind conditions observed on site.

Ever-increasing rotor diameters require appropriate measurement systems that ‘see’ and characterise the wind shear and veer – the change in wind speed and wind direction – across the rotor swept area, ZX Lidars said.

The 14 MW Siemens Gamesa turbine is one of the largest on the market with a 222-metre rotor diameter, and the company is taking a leadership position in applying innovation and proven technology, such as Continuous Wave wind Lidar, to meet their goals of decarbonising energy and achieving Net Zero in the industry.

In an ongoing collaboration between Siemens Gamesa and ZX Lidars, this Lidar solution is fully-approved and validated and supports the release of the turbine, now operational at the Østerild Wind Turbine Test Field, Denmark.

The SG 14-222 DD turbine model has a 14 MW capacity, reaching up to 15 MW using the company’s Power Boost function. The model features a 222-metre diameter rotor, 108-metre blades, and a 39,000 m2 swept area.

The enhanced SG 14‑236 DD offshore wind turbine has a 236-metre diameter rotor, a 43,500 m2 swept area, and a capacity of up to 15 MW. The SG 14-236 DD prototype is scheduled to be installed in 2022 and the model will be commercially available in 2024.

Last year, Siemens Gamesa received the first firm order for the SG 14-222 DD from RWE for the 1.4 GW Sofia wind farm offshore the UK.

Siemens Gamesa has also signed preferred supplier agreements to deliver the new turbine to the 300 MW Hai Long 2 project in Taiwan, the 2.6 GW Dominion Energy Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) commercial project in the US, and the Norfolk Boreas and Norfolk Vanguard projects off the UK with a combined capacity of 3.6 GW.

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