Energy technical services provider Wood has completed the first commercial lidar test at the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult’s new facility.
The test took place on the 7MW Levenmouth demonstration turbine’s onshore met mast, located on Scotland’s Fife coast, operated by the ORE Catapult.
It is the only open access facility in the UK where it is possible to test, demonstrate and verify up to four lidar systems at any one time against high quality, representative offshore wind resources.
The Scottish government supported the test site’s development.
The test of Wood’s Galion lidar system was completed in one month, rather than the planned three-month test programme, due to the abundant natural wind resource at the Levenmouth site.
According to ORE Catapult operational performance director Chris Hill the combination of highly reliable meteorological data and Catapult lidar test and verification specialists makes the facility ideal for testing and verification of remote sensor technologies for both onshore and offshore wind.
Hill said: “Our site represents the only coastal location in the UK that offers lidar verification services, enabling Levenmouth to become a premier location for lidar testing in Europe, and the outstanding success of this first commercial test means we are now fully open for business.”
Wood director of innovation Alan Mortimer said: “We are extremely grateful to be the first company to use the test site for the performance verification of one of our Galion Lidar G250 models, which achieved an excellent pass.
“We envisage many more lidar performance verifications at this test site in the months and years ahead.”
The Levenmouth test site complements the Catapult’s existing offshore floating lidar verification service using its Offshore Anemometry Hub (NOAH), 3nm off the coast of Blyth, Northumberland.
Industry players, such as Axys and Eolos, have demonstrated their technologies at NOAH.