Galion Lidar Produces First-ever Image of Multiple Offshore Wakes Captured by a Nacelle-mounted Lidar Device

The first image is in from a pioneering offshore wind measurement campaign currently being conducted by AREVA Wind and renewable energy consultancy, SgurrEnergy, at the Alpha Ventus test site in the German North Sea. The campaign involves the deployment of three of SgurrEnergy’s G4000 Offshore Galion Lidar devices on an AREVA M5000-116 wind turbine generator (WTG).  The Galions are running a complex series of scans from their deployment locations, generating detailed information on WTG wakes and producing comprehensive images of inflowing wind.

This collaborative campaign between SgurrEnergy and AREVA Wind is the first of its kind in the industry to place three scanning Lidars on one WTG and will run for 3 to 6 months. The initial images are derived from a Galion which is deployed on the nacelle of AREVA’s M5000-116 and show the formation of wakes passing through the WTG.

The results of this measurement campaign could have huge implications for the wind energy industry in terms of offshore wind farm layout design, energy yield prediction and WTG design.

Dr Peter Clive, technical development officer with SgurrEnergy said, ‘We are very excited to see the data coming in from this comprehensive measurement campaign.  This initial image shows the offshore wake formation measured from the nacelle mounted Lidar and we look forward to releasing analysis of these findings in the coming months’.

SgurrEnergy
www.sgurrenergy.com
 
Wood Group
www.woodgroup.com
 
AREVA Wind    
www.areva-wind.com