International renewable energy consultancy SgurrEnergy has been commissioned by Hong Kong Electric Company, to deploy Asia’s first Lidar device for capturing wind speed and directional data in an offshore environment.
This large scale project represents Asia’s first Offshore Risk Quantification Analysis deployment (ORQA). ORQA is the latest technology data monitoring equipment designed specifically to capture a full meteorological, environmental, wave and tidal picture of offshore conditions and will be used to inform planning and construction phases for the proposed offshore wind energy project which will be located off Lamma Island, Hong Kong.
ORQA is a versatile solution which provides developers with a single turn-key option for advanced data collection and consequently risk quantification of offshore development.
This deployment will incorporate SgurrEnergy’s Galion Lidar, a 2nd generation laser based device, for capturing wind speed and directional data. Lidar is a mature remote sensing technology that is now successfully being used in wind power applications. With its unique all-sky scanning capability and 4 km range, SgurrEnergy’s Galion Lidar is a cutting-edge technology which is transforming the way wind energy is understood.
Offshore deployments in wind energy present a set of challenges which the Galion Lidar is uniquely equipped to meet. Galion is able to acquire measurements inaccessible to other devices, in terms of vertical profiling, immediately above the platform and in acquisition of hub height wind speed data at multiple proposed turbine locations, within the Galion’s 4 km range. Galion deployment can significantly reduce costs associated with offshore measurements by met mast methods.
Headquartered in Scotland, SgurrEnergy has an office in Beijing, China, to serve the growing wind energy sector in Asia. SgurrEnergy launched Galion Lidar in Europe, in 2008, followed by China and the US in 2009.
Cathryn Chu, general manager, Beijing office commented “SgurrEnergy’s Beijing office is excited to be at the forefront of this large scale project. Deploying Galion Lidar offshore will allow our client to obtain advanced data and make more informed decisions for their offshore development, with a greater degree of accuracy than ever seen before.”
SgurrEnergy’s technical director Ian Irvine added: “The Galion deployment offshore is an extremely exciting advancement for the offshore wind market and enhances our industry leading position in development of wind Lidars for offshore applications.
( sgurrenergy )
[mappress mapid=”3328″]
Source: sgurrenergy, April 18, 2011