The unnamed owner of oil and gas platforms in the North Adriatic Concession area has contracted renewable energy consultancy Megajoule to install multiple wind lidars as part of the company’s low carbon development strategy.
It is expected that information from Megajoule’s lidar deployment shall also be used future offshore wind farm development in the Adriatic.
The ZX 300M lidar will be deployed to begin taking measurements up to 300 metres from itsinstalled position on the gas platforms to support the assessment of potential wind energy in the area.
Best practice for any wind development is to measure wind conditions at heights that respond to the expected wind turbines.
The introduction of 15MW-plus generators introduces 260-metre hub heights and 220-metre rotor diameters dismissing the feasibility of using met masts, Megajoule said.
ZX 300M has been responsible for more than 95% of offshore wind measurements from floating platforms and the use of the technology has attracted more than £150bn (€178.6bn) in clean energy investment in the last five years alone.
A Megajoule spokesperson said: “For decades we installed tall met masts at sea – it was the way offshore wind resource assessment was done.
“Today’s modern approach is with lidar, specifically ZX 300M which in a relatively short period of time has probably already gathered more offshore wind data than ever previously existed from masts.
“It is the new standard for offshore wind resource assessment and Megajoule are proud to sign contracts with our confidential client, and with ZX Lidars to unlock the future of offshore wind in the Adriatic.”