Essen, 20 September 2012, RWE Innogy GmbH

RWE Innogy and Carbon Trust’s OWA to test innovative wind measuring buoys



  • Prototypes manufactured by “FLiDAR“ and “Babcock International Group“
  • Application area near the offshore wind farm Gwynt y Môr
  • Large potential for cost and time reduction in wind farm development
  • First results are available in 2013

RWE Innogy, together with the Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) programme, is to trial new methods of collecting wind speed data at the site of Gwynt y Môr, one of Europe’s largest offshore wind farms. Two Light Detection and Ranging units (LIDAR) will be mounted on buoys and be temporarily installed ten miles off the north Wales coast, close to the existing met mast of Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm. Both units will collect wind data which can then be compared with information from the met mast and used to build confidence in this new technology in future wind farm developments. The trials are part of the OWA programme, promoted and coordinated by the Carbon Trust with the aim of reducing the cost of offshore wind power by 10% by 2015. First results are expected to be available in 2013.

COO at RWE Innogy, Paul Coffey, said: “The need for research in the field of offshore wind power continues to be immense. The construction of measuring stations is an important step towards recording and analysing local wind conditions. The data is of fundamental significance for the development, construction and operation of offshore wind power plants. It is for this reason that we support the testing of these measuring buoys.”

Prototype by “FLiDAR“
Prototype by “FLiDAR“

If the trials are successful LIDAR devices are expected to be a simpler, quicker, more effective and cheaper alternative to met masts, to be used during offshore wind project development.

The two models being trialled, one manufactured by the Belgian company “FLiDAR“, the other by the British producer “Babcock International Group“, differ particularly in terms of design. The prototype developed by FLiDAR floats on the waves and is undergoing a trial for wave motion compensation. This prototype has already been successfully used in the Belgian North Sea for accurate wind data collection. The measuring buoy from Babcock is currently under construction and is characterised by its low motion buoy design.

Both prototypes will be towed by ship to the chosen measuring site where they are anchored to the seabed. Electricity will be supplied by photovoltaic panels and micro-wind turbines installed on the buoy. Like a conventional met mast, the buoys will supply weather data on wind velocities and wind direction. These trial laser-based measuring systems will be used to record wind velocity and wind direction both horizontally and vertically up to a height of 200 meters.

The trials were initiated by the Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator programme which involves RWE Innogy as well as seven other energy utilities and offshore wind developers:
Dong, Eon, Mainstream, Scottish Power, SSE, Statkraft and Statoil.


At 576MW, Gwynt y Môr is one of the largest offshore wind farms currently under construction in Europe, and is a shared investment between funding partners RWE Innogy, Stadtwerke München GmbH and Siemens1. Once fully operational in 2014, energy generation from Gwynt y Môr is expected to be equivalent to the average annual needs of around 400,000 homes2.


Footnote:
1. Gwynt y Môr represents a total investment of more than EUR2 billion, shared between RWE npower renewables’ parent company RWE Innogy (60%); Stadtwerke München GmbH, Munich’s municipal utilities company (30%); and Siemens (10%).
2.Energy predicted to be generated by the proposal is derived using wind speeds monitored in the local area. This enables a calculation to be made to estimate the average annual energy production for the site based on 160 turbines, each of rated capacity 3.6 MW. The energy capture predicted and hence derived homes equivalent figures may change as further data are gathered. Equivalent homes supplied is based on an annual electricity consumption per home of 4700 kWh. This figure is supported by recent domestic electricity consumption data available from The Digest of UK Energy Statistics and household estimates and projections from the UK Statistics Authority.

Additional information as links:
More about the Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) programme