FICHE RECTO LIDARFLOTTANT
LOW-CARBON ELECTRICITY
AND RENEWABLE ENERGY
A floating radar
to measure
wind speed remotely
Numerous preliminary studies are needed to determine the location for
an offshore wind farm and the arrangement of its turbines. These studies
include a campaign to measure wind speed and direction, together
with wave heights and current strengths. A measurement mast has to
be manoeuvred into position and anchored to the seabed to collect
these various readings in a lengthy and costly operation. To simplify the
process, EDF identified a company that has developed a particularly
innovative technology: floating LiDAR.
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Based on the same principle as a speed camera, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) uses a
laser beam to calculate the speed of particles in the air, from which it can deduce the wind
speed. With floating LiDAR, a measurement mast is no longer required to collect the
preliminary wind speed data. And that includes even in the most challenging conditions and
in deep water, where a standard measurement mast could not operate at depths of more
than 50 metres. Floating LiDAR is a technology that is mobile, high performance, reliable
and economical. The EDF teams worked with the company that owns the floating solution
right from the technical approval phase, including adapting it to the EDF Group’s needs,
through to its turnkey delivery. This type of LiDAR is now floating at the Courseulles-sur-Mer
site, after having been tested with success at the Fécamp wind farm.
KEY FIGURES
200 m high: wind measurement capability
INTERESTING FACTS
EDF ENTITIES INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT
— EDF R&D UK
— EDF Énergies Nouvelles
— EDF Group Purchasing Department
See all our solutions on:
edf.fr/en/cop21
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EDF – Corporate Communications and Sustainable Development Departments – Design and production:
compared with 100 m for a conventional
measurement mast
90% data availability rate
Design costs divided by 5
– © EDF - Rudy Lamboray - Philippe Eranian - Brown Graham/Chapman Brown Photography – November 2015.
FICHE VERSO LIDARFLOTTANT
23/11/2015 12:36