France: Oldbaum and Leosphere announce 1GW of offshore wind data campaigns underway at French sites

Oldbaum Services, one of the world’s leading wind consultancies, announced today that it has deployed two 3D WINDCUBE 400S Scanning LiDARs as part of the wind resource assessment campaigns the company is currently conducting at two French offshore wind sites. It is the first time that such long range scanning systems are deployed for operational campaigns, after having successfully completed third party validation tests with DTU and DNV GL. Oldbaum’s work will contribute significantly to making best use of the wind resource available at both locations to reduce the costs associated with offshore wind development.

Oldbaum provides wind data interpretation and consultancy services that efficiently complement Leosphere’s scanning LiDAR, allowing Oldbaum to design and implement cost effective wind resource assessment campaigns to establish the offshore wind regime from onshore for future wind farms as well as optimise their layout design. The instrumentation Oldbaum selected for the job includes the 3D WINDCUBE 400S Scanning LiDAR from Leosphere, which is able to scan hemispherically up to a distance of 10 km. It scans the wind out to sea, providing Oldbaum with a comprehensive picture of the wind resource available at both sites, returning data using low risk cost effective measurements. The reconstruction of the wind was based on Leosphere’s in-house algorithm recently validated by DNV GL.

“Oldbaum Services is at the forefront of the wind sector in reducing the cost of energy by combining our industry-leading skills and experience in wind resource assessment, with innovative products such as Leosphere’s scanning LiDAR. Oldbaum Services and Leosphere have been working together as solid partners for many years, and Oldbaum Services has an excellent track record of utilising Leosphere’s Lidar Instrumentation to deliver successful wind energy projects all over Europe,” explained Oldbaum’s Technical Director Andy Oldroyd. 

Prior to deployment, the 3D WINDCUBE Scanning LiDAR was field-tested and validated by DNV GL on the Janneby test site in Germany. It is the first long range scanning LiDAR to be third-party validated. The results from DNV GL show that the WINDCUBE scanning LiDAR significantly reduces P90 AEP uncertainty and meets the high standards set by the wind energy community, such as correlations of 98% between met-mast and scanning device at long ranges, and mean speed errors inferior to 0.5m/s.

Leosphere’s CEO Alexandre Sauvage commented: “This deployment for one of France’s major wind power project is a further proof of our system’s performance for offshore wind applications that our long-standing partner Oldbaum can use effectively to conduct very reliable wind data interpretation and consultancy work. Our work in France further underpins the maturity and acceptance of our technology for operational use and confirms LEOSPHERE’s leading position in LiDAR technology. We deliver reliable systems that operate with minimal maintenance and downtime.  With this proof-of-concept, the 3D WINDCUBE 400S is set to become the reference tool for long range wind resource assessment scanning offshore from the shore.”

About Oldbaum Services

One of the world-leading wind energy consultancies, Oldbaum Services has been specialising in wind data for over 10 years. As remote sensing experts, Oldbaum has an excellent track record in deploying LiDAR technology, having used all types of LiDAR systems - from nacelle LiDAR, ground-based LiDAR and scanning LiDAR to floating LiDAR. Oldbaum’s fully trained field service team has over 12 years of experience and provides data measurement and consultancy services during all phases of onshore and offshore wind farm projects. Oldbaum has delivered over

About LEOSPHERE

LEOSPHERE, founded in 2004, and its subsidiary AVENT Lidar Technology are world leaders in ground-based and nacelle-mounted LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) for atmospheric observation. The companies design, develop, manufacture, sell and service new turnkey remote-sensing instruments allowing wind measurement and aerosol characterization. LEOSPHERE has deployed hundreds of LIDARs throughout the world in severe environments. www.leosphere.com