Vattenfall bank on Lidar for German wind developments

Progressing a portfolio of new wind development opportunities in Germany, Vattenfall has confirmed a fleet of ground-based ZX 300 wind Lidars will be deployed for wind resource assessments. The Lidars remotely determine the available wind characteristics including wind speed uniquely from ground level and up to 300m.

The fleet of ZX 300 are subject to validations against the tallest available met masts at local Remote Sensing Test Sites in Germany, operated by wind and site experts Pavana, and will be used to support the strict technical guidance ‘TR6’, published by the German FGW, which describes processes to determine the wind potential and the energy yield at sites for wind turbines. The guideline focuses on wind measurement considering wind met masts as well as Sodar and Lidar devices. ZX 300 is accepted and approved for use within TR6, and is supported by leading German consultancies.

Supporting Vattenfall, ZX Lidars’ Trusted Service Provider Ge:Net shall provide reliable, autonomous power supplies and mobility solutions to allow the successful wind measurement campaigns that are based on the Lidar.

Jim Hough, Senior Data Manager at Vattenfall said: “Our fleet of Lidars offer real advantages in terms of project development speed and cost. As well as the best-in-class data quality, Vattenfall welcomes the low cost of ownership of the ZX300 and the product’s robustness in the field.”

With over 15,000 deployments in 100 countries globally, the ZX 300 wind Lidar is built to last and operate in extreme environments, simple and complex terrain, and in clear air, all with its survive-in-field attitude.

About ZX Lidars (formerly ZephIR Lidar)
ZX Lidars provides industry-leading wind lidar products, ZX 300, ZX 300M and ZX TM for wind energy and meteorological applications. These Lidars deliver accurate wind measurements in both onshore and offshore applications at measurement heights / ranges across the full swept area of the blades of modern wind turbines, and beyond. With more than 30 million hours of operation in the field and over 15,000 deployments (and counting), ZX Lidars has pioneered the use of Lidar in the wind industry. The company is proud of the many world firsts it has achieved with customers including: upwind measurements from a turbine nacelle, turbine wake studies, offshore deployments of both fixed and floating wind lidar, an industry-accepted validation process, re-financing and re-powering of a wind farm, successful demonstration of measurement accuracy in a wind tunnel and total wind project financing from a lidar without need for a met mast.