ZX Lidars has confirmed that Nadara has chosen the ZX 300e wind lidar to underpin its UK wind repowering programme. The agreement was unveiled during the Wind Lidar Masterclass in Berlin and includes the acquisition of a fleet of wind Lidars under a fully turnkey structure. This arrangement covers field services and operational support delivered by ZX Measurement Services, together with dedicated ZX Power systems designed to facilitate long-term standalone operation.
Under the programme, the Lidars will generate direct, bankable wind measurements at future hub heights. This approach is intended to inform repowering decisions without depending on legacy met mast infrastructure or SCADA-only reconstructions, ensuring data integrity at elevations aligned with next-generation turbine specifications.
The UK onshore wind sector is now moving into a significant repowering cycle. A share of operational projects is approaching—or has already surpassed—their original design life. Concurrently, planning, grid and land-use constraints are increasingly steering developers toward repowering established sites wherever feasible.
Contemporary repowering initiatives typically introduce turbines with substantially higher hub heights and larger rotors than those installed in earlier phases. In numerous instances, historical wind datasets do not extend to the vertical range required by modern turbine platforms. As a result, uncertainty relating to wind shear, veer and vertical wind profiles has become a central consideration in both technical modelling and financial due diligence.
In response, standalone wind lidar systems are gaining traction across the UK market to bridge this measurement gap. These systems enable direct wind assessment across the entire rotor-swept area at proposed repowering heights. The ZX 300e is the only wind lidar to have achieved an IEC 61400-50-2 classification with 0% standard uncertainty, and the only system to have achieved this across a classified measurement range from 21 m to 200 m. In the context of repowering projects—where uncertainty at new hub heights can materially influence P50, P90 and lender confidence—this degree of wind measurement certainty offers enhanced assurance for owners, advisors and investors.
Finley Becks-Phelps, UK Head of Development at Nadara said: “Repowering is central to Nadara’s long-term strategy for maximising value from our onshore wind portfolio. As turbines reach the limits of their original design life, we see a significant opportunity to increase generation from existing sites, but only if the underlying wind data supports confident decisions. Direct measurements at future hub heights allow us to move beyond assumptions and legacy constraints. Using ZX 300e, the best IEC-classified standalone lidar available, allows us to reduce uncertainty and approach repowering with greater confidence and a robust, investment-ready approach to repowering.”