Germany: Floating LiDAR System Starts North Sea Measuring Operations

Within the framework of the project “Offshore Measuring Buoy” – funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Envi­ronment – Fraunhofer scientists carried out the first North Sea deployment of the floating LiDAR system. A Windcube LiDAR device made by the company Leosphere has been integrated into the buoy.

LiDAR wind measuring buoy for measur­ing wind speeds was put to anchor in the direct vicinity of FINO1 meteorological mast. Wind speed information greatly improves risk minimisation in the planning, construction and operation phases of offshore wind farms. When compared with measuring masts, the buoy has one decisive advantage: It can be employed at any location with no extra installation costs and re­quires a less time-consuming authorization procedure.

This is all made possible by a correction algorithm, de­veloped at the Fraunhofer IWES, which removes the proper motion of the floating platform from the values measured.

Rapid implementation and marked cost reductions through floating LiDAR technology should make it possible for wind farm developers to reduce the actual costs of offshore wind energy. The construction of an authorized measuring mast such as FINO1 requires a double-digit million investment. The data quality of mast and buoy should be comparable.

High Data Quality Despite Floating Platform

The buoy will remain in the North Sea until October to prove its offshore suitability and to allow a validation of measure­ment accuracy using comparisons with the measurement data from the stationary mast. “A system for measuring buoy movement in combination with a correction algorithm, de­veloped at the Fraunhofer IWES, is the key ingredient of this technology. In this way, high quality wind measurement data can be assured from a moving platform,” explains IWES- Project Leader Dr. Julia Gottschall.

Cost Reduction in every Expansion and Operations Phase

Using a floating LiDAR system, the provisions of offshore wind resources are followed exactly and reliably – also in the long term and at greater water depths. Considerable time and cost advantages compared with measuring masts and flexible application potentials are the main arguments for the deployment of mobile systems. Exact determination of weather windows during the installation phase allows relia­ble planning of individual construction steps. Accompanying measurements during operations allow statements concern­ing turbine efficiency and potential wind energy yield.

[mappress]

Press release, August 14, 2013; Image: Fraunhofer IWES