Less than six months after Dong Energy ordered a second FLiDAR wind measuring device, the buoy has been installed on site and is fully operational.
Dong Energy also signed a long term operation and maintenance agreement. The deployment, which involved specialized FLiDAR personnel took just 1 day to complete, and thanks to detailed onshore commissioning this wind measurement buoy was operational the same day.
Hugh Yendole, Programme Manager at Dong Energy’s UK Wind business said: “We are implementing a large number of methods to reduce the cost of offshore wind across the lifetime of a development, and this wind assessment technique provides us with data in a shorter timescale and with less outlay compared to a traditional fixed mast, and with a smaller environmental footprint. We also have the opportunity to move the unit to another site should we require measurements elsewhere.”
The General Manager of FLiDAR, Bruce Douglas , said: “We are delighted to be delivering low-cost, high-value wind data to Dong Energy, the leading offshore wind developer. This new milestone significantly contributes to further cost reductions in offshore wind resource assessments.”
The FLiDAR technology has been developed by 3E, global renewable energy consultancy and software provider, and Offshore & Wind Assistance (OWA), the subsidiary of marine contractor Geosea.
The FLiDAR equipment consists of a marine buoy equipped with a state-of-the-art buoy-adapted LEOSPHERE WINDCUBE®v2 LiDAR held in a passive mechanical stabilisation system. It has previously been tested and validated in the North Sea and in the Irish Sea (as part of the UK’s Carbon Trust Offshore Wind Accelerator programme). The performance has been analysed and validated by third parties and has been proven to deliver wind data with accuracy equivalent to standard offshore wind measurements.
Press release, May 2, 2014; Image: Dong Energy