The Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) has completed the analysis of the data gathered from the pioneering £2 million measurement campaign at E.ON’s Rødsand 2 wind farm, and has now launched a call for Expressions of Interest from other organisations who want to access and continue research of the data.
The campaign consisted of measurements collected from four short range, nacelle mounted LIDAR (light detection and ranging) devices on two turbines, two scanning pulsed LIDARs on the meteorological mast and the substation as well as 3D sonic anemometers fitted to the meteorological met mast. The dataset collected is unprecedented in its size, richness and level of insight it provides to the industry.
The campaign objective was to measure the flow field inside a large offshore wind farm to enable more detailed validation of wake effects models, which will help reduce the cost of energy through improved wind farm design and efficiency.
The OWA partners are now inviting organisations to register their interest in continuing specific areas of research that will deliver material value the industry, which include; wind shear, turbine controls, mesoscale and coastal effects, wake modelling validation and improvement, wake meandering, turbulence fatigue and asset lifetimes.
Megan Smith, Programme Manager, Wake Effects and Wind Resource for the OWA at the Carbon Trust commented: “This is a unique opportunity for research bodies to gain access to a data set with huge potential. The OWA partners are greatly looking forward to working with interested parties to explore more avenues of research to further understand and exploit the data from this campaign.”
A number of highlights have emerged following the analysis including:
Implementation was led by E.ON, Oldbaum Services, Leosphere and Avent under guidance from the Carbon Trust and other OWA partners. Frazer-Nash Consultancy was selected to advise on the technical aspects of the campaign configuration to ensure the data would meet the campaign objectives set by the OWA partners.
Jörgen Bodin, Director of Technology & Innovation at E.ON Next Generation said: “E.ON is strongly committed to the continuous improvement of offshore wind energy. We are confident this rich dataset, in the hands of the world’s most capable players, can further advance the whole industry.”
Neil Adams, who led the analysis at Frazer-Nash Consultancy , commented: “This is a unique dataset, unprecedented in the offshore wind sector. It has been a pleasure to work with the Carbon Trust and E.ON to capture and process this data, and I’m delighted to see it being exploited more widely to further the industry.”
Set up in 2008, the main goal of the OWA programme is to reduce the cost of offshore wind by at least 10 percent in time for Round 3 through innovation in six key areas including Access Systems, Cable Installation, Electrical Systems, Foundations and Wake Effects and Wind Resource, and, through the OWA’s ancillary offshore renewables joint industry project (the ORJIP), Environment.