Fugro has deployed a floating LiDAR at ScottishPower Renewables’ East Anglia ONE wind farm zone, as part of the Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) programme, managed by the Carbon Trust.
Fugro has supplied all the equipment being used in the test project, while a local vessel, The Suffolk Spirit, assisted with the installation process, which was also supported by Small & Co, a Lowestoft-based marine engineering company.
The trials will take place for a period of 6 months, and data will be tested against readings from the existing meteorological mast to ensure accuracy. Initial data suggests that the installation has been a success, ScottishPower Renewables said.
A week ago, ECN issued a report confirming Fugro Oceanor Seawatch floating LiDAR is in the pre-commercial stage according to the OWA roadmap for the commercial acceptance of floating LiDAR technology.
The Carbon Trust’s roadmap describes three stages of commercialisation in terms of accuracy and availability KPIs and explains how measurement uncertainties decrease as a floating LiDAR device moves from Stage 1 (baseline) through to Stage 2 (pre-commercial) and finally Stage 3 (commercial).
Charlie Jordan, ScottishPower Renewables project director for East Anglia ONE, said: “We are committed to driving down costs in all aspects of delivering an offshore windfarm, and this trial project in East Anglia will play a key role in proving the advantages of the new technology.
“We were also very pleased to work with a number of local companies to successfully install the device, which highlights the range of businesses working in the East Anglia region that can offer support to all aspects of an offshore windfarm project.”