US offshore wind developer Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind has collaborated with Rutgers University to deploy an onshore LiDAR at the university’s Marine Field Station in Tuckerton, New Jersey.
The Rutgers University Center for Ocean Observing Leadership (RUCOOL), the Rutgers University Marine Field Station (RUMFS), and Atlantic Shores installed the wind LiDAR (light detection and ranging) instrument alongside the causeway leading to RUMFS.
This fully autonomous sensor platform, owned and operated by Atlantic Shores, will provide observations of the wind profile up to several hundred feet in a location directly on the land/sea boundary.
The system is expected to be in place for at least the next several years, and will provide information on the wind conditions in the area, particularly during sea breezes and coastal storms.
The LiDAR will collect real-time weather observations that contribute to ongoing research, monitoring modeling, and data synthesis efforts of both Atlantic Shores and Rutgers.
RUCOOL and Atlantic Shores are collaborating on future research initiatives using this and other data.
Back in July 2019, Atlantic Shores and Rutgers University signed a five-year agreement to collaborate on ocean research and monitoring projects in New Jersey.
Atlantic Shores is a 50:50 joint venture between EDF Renewables North America and Shell New Energies US LLC.
The special purpose company holds development rights for an offshore wind zone located some 14 to 32 kilometres off the New Jersey coast, between Barnegat Light and Atlantic City
The lease area spans across 183,000 hectares and has the potential to generate 2.5 GW of wind energy.
Atlantic Shores plans to build multiple projects over the next decade within the lease area.