Off-shore wind industry needs accurate and affordable wind measurements to support project development.
Current industry standards require the use of masts and cup anemometers to provide wind data according to IEC 61400 requirements. In parallel remote sensing equipment like LIDAR’s or SODAR’s are capable of providing wind data over the height of modern turbines.
SeaLIDAR combines both for the benefit of the wind industry.
A purpose designed and built floating platform incorporates both mast and LIDAR to provide wind data and all other data -wave, temperatures etc- required for the development of an off-shore wind park. Data meet all the requirements of the current industry standards i.e. IEC61400 offering to the user the necessary certainty needed for this range of projects.
The platform can be deployed in both shallow or deep waters using minimum of infrastructure.
seaLIDAR is a purpose designed and built floating platform incorporating both wind mast and LIDAR. Other instrumentation is available depending on the data needed by the client.
seaLIDAR has been designed to virtually eliminate the movements induced by the waves. In this way the wind mast meets all the specifications needed by the current industry standards and LIDAR measurements need no correlation. Operation data collected during real operation in the sea show tilt and azimuth variations of less than 0.7° well below the 2° required by IEC61400.
Because of this there is no need to correlate the measurements of seaLIDAR against a fixed mast and seaLIDAR wind data are bankable.
All seaLIDAR parts and equipment are placed in a standard 40’ container.
seaLIDAR can be assembled by the shore in an area of 10 x 10 meters with the help of a standard 5 tons crane and a crew of 4 trained people in about 7 hours.
seaLIDAR can be launched in the sea with the help of a standard 5 tons crane or using a standard slope of at least 6 meters width used for boats. Water depth of 0,7 meters is enough for the launching.
Mooring of seaLIDAR can be done using a standard 150HP boat.
seaLIDAR uses a hybrid anchoring based on TLP and catenary methods.
Although various options are available gravity anchors is the standard option. A 40tons boat equipped with a 10 tons crane is needed.
After anchoring, set-up and instrumentation start-up is a matter of 2 hours by a crew of 4 people. No need for underwater works.
has been deployed and tested at a site 2.5 km of the shore of Thermaikos gulf, Macedonia Greece, at a sea depth of 10m.
The processed, recorded, wind data are presented in Figures 1 to 3.
Recordings [Fig. 4, Fig. 5] show that the inclination of the mast, by the wave induced movement of the , is compliant with IEC's 61400 acceptable deviation from the vertical direction (±2°). Based on this, wind data recorded are fully compliant with industry standards and need no correlation.
Figure 1. Vertical Wind Shear Profile.
Figure 2. Frequency of Wind Speed vs Wind Direction at a Height of 100 m.
Figure 3. 10 minutes Mean WindSpeed at 10 m height (Wind Mast).
Figure 4. 10 minutes Maximum and Minimum values of Roll.
Figure 5. 10 minutes Maximum and Minimum values of Pitch.
seaLIDAR1 has been developed base on the acquired experience of .
spent more than 5 months in sea during its deployments.
seaLIDAR1 is able to perform full wind measurements with minimum maintenance intervention.
Material |
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Steel | |||||
Dimensions |
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Length | 5 m | ||||
Width | 5 m |
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Height | 11.7 m |
(wind mast not included) | |||
Weight | 12 tn | (wind mast and equipment not included) | |||
Power Supply |
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Power System Autonomy | apr. 15 days | (more upon request) | |||
Solar Panels | |||||
Lead-acid battery bank | (other upon request) | ||||
Wind Turbine | (depending on local weather conditions) | ||||
Onboard Generator | |||||
Wind Measuring Equipment |
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Wind Mast Height | Max 20 m | (other upon request) | |||
LIDAR System to be used | Zephir 300 | (other upon request) |
Other Equipment |
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Navigation Lights | Led based | ||||
Temperature Sensor | |||||
Humidity Sensor | |||||
Atmospheric Pressure Sensor | |||||
Inertia Sensors | Real Time data presentation | ||||
Wave Sensors | (upon request) | ||||
Communication |
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Cellular | 3G | other upon request | |||
Operational/ Deployment Conditions |
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Deployment Water Depth | min 15 m | ||||
Operational Water Depth | up to 100 m | (more upon request) | |||
Max Wind Speed | 30 m/sec | ||||
Max Wave Height | 5 m | (more upon request) | |||
has been developed by ESTIA Consulting & Engineering S.A. ( www.estiaconsulting.eu ). Experienced Engineers from various disciplines (naval, mechanical, electrical etc.) have been worked to realize seaLIDAR. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki -Greece- helped in several aspects regarding theoretical implementations.
is promoted by seaLIDAR Ltd, a UK based company, dedicated in further development & commercialisation of seaLIDAR. Intellectual property rights concerning various features of seaLIDAR are pending.