The measurement of wind characteristics at a potential wind farm development site with Lidar is today’s modern approach to renewable energy development. A digital approach to a very simple need – how windy will it be. The answer and certainty of the answer leads to significant investment over the lifespan of wind farms onshore and offshore.
Lidars remotely measure wind speeds at hundreds of metres above their installed location, collecting up to 50 individual data points every second. Onshore they are highly flexible in their installation location and offshore they utilize efficient infrastructure such as floating buoys for deployment.
Today an analysis by ZX Lidars and based on data from BVG Associates and Natural Power, has estimated that wind Lidars provided by OEM ZX Lidars have delivered wind data in support over £150bn of investment into wind energy. Furthermore, this equates to the avoidance of 245 MT CO2 emissions when comparing the use of offshore wind globally in place of fossil fuels according to figures published in GWEC’s Global Offshore Wind Report 2020.
With more than an estimated 7,000 deployments of ZX Lidars’ systems in more than 60 countries the figures released today represent just the last 5 years of the company’s activities within a track record of two decades of delivering commercial wind Lidar solutions. Specifically, the estimates relate to Lidars that have been independently verified by DNV for use in offshore wind development.