Tiddu Kla

There has been significant momentum in the popularity of offshore wind energy all around the globe in the past few years. In 2020 alone, there has been an addition of more than 6 GW of new capacity, owing to various Offshore Wind Lidar installations. As the global interest in offshore wind energy maintains the upward curve, the demand for continuous monitoring is also rising in leaps and bounds.

Investments inspiring technological growth

As the offshore wind energy market is proliferating, large finance companies and many reputed oil and gas companies are ready to invest billions of dollars in the business of offshore wind. As a result, it is encouraging the application of highly advanced technology for the accumulation of accurate data, including critical offshore wind data using wind lidar systems.

Facing the challenges

While offshore wind farms surely promise excellent wind availability along with incredible energy capture, you cannot ignore the common performance degradations that come when you choose the complex terrain to work, not to forget onshore wind farm crowding. So, various companies manufacturing lidars are coming forward to help you face the challenges of using technology.

• Everything is bigger offshore. So bigger is always the better. As the offshore farms will cover more expansive areas, the locations will be more away from the shore, so there will be the use of larger turbines that can reach higher altitudes for increasing power generation.

• Installation of innovative structures like 3d Scanning Wind Lidar will help in the accurate assessment of wind characteristics for the taller turbines and the larger areas.

• It will also be possible to obtain precise data regarding the wind movements at a longer range from the shoreline. Traditional equipment for wind measurement can never work at this level. Meteorological masts thus, fail to collect data or contribute to expensive maintenance.

Hence, wind lidars can aid in overcoming the challenges.