SmartWind Technologies dual-Doppler radar system
SmartWind Technologies is selected by Fraunhofer IWES to provide a custom dual-Doppler radar system to serve the wind energy community
21-November-2022
Fraunhofer IWES has selected SmartWind Technologies to provide a dual-Doppler radar solution to deliver valuable insights for the wind energy industry.
As part of the “Wind Farm Radar – Validation and Demonstration of dual-Doppler Wind Field Measurements for Applications in the Wind Energy Industry” project, SmartWind Technologies will provide two custom radar systems and a suite of supporting software allowing for the automated construction of real-time maps of wind flow details that are vital to many wind energy applications. The dual-Doppler radar system will be initially deployed near the Fraunhofer IWES facilities in Bremerhaven, Germany in spring 2024 for a multi-month measurement campaign before being relocated to future sites for further evaluation and implementation. The project aim is to validate the accuracy and availability of the dual-Doppler Radar wind field measurements and to demonstrate its use for applications in the wind industry.
As Dr. Brian Hirth, co-founder of SmartWind Technologies, explains, “Dual-Doppler radar affords unique advantages for measuring the wind flows relevant to the wind energy industry. We are thrilled to have been selected by Fraunhofer IWES to press the limits of this technology and further expand upon the existing wind energy complex flows knowledge base. Providing the technology to Fraunhofer IWES, a world class research institute, will result in the execution of a comprehensive research portfolio, as well as planned service activities to benefit the industry into the future.”
The SmartWind Technology dual-Doppler radar system affords data collection flexibility to meet individual project demands. Typical maximum measurement ranges exceed 30 km, coupled with fast scan speeds and very high spatial resolutions allow for the construction of exceedingly detailed maps of the wind flows covering large footprints within and surrounding onshore and offshore wind farms. A single data set can be used to look at large scale phenomena such as wind farm wakes while simultaneously documenting turbine-to-turbine interaction within a turbine array as well as the detailed inflow into an individual turbine across the full rotor sweep.
“We are looking forward to using the innovative technical capabilities of SmartWind’s dual-Doppler radar system, which promises new insights and new opportunities in the development and operation of wind farms. With this research project we want to qualify this technology and make it available for the wind industry”, emphasizes Dr. Bernhard Lange, Technical Director at the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES.
The project will investigate multiple data collection strategies, configurations and measurement applications to develop a roadmap for implementing future service activities for the wind energy industry.
About SmartWind Technologies:
SmartWind Technologies is a technology development and service company specializing in providing hardware, software and knowledge to measure and analyze complex wind flows in the lower atmosphere.
For additional information, please contact:
Brian Hirth – SmartWind Technologies
brian.hirth@smartwindtech.com
www.smartwindtech.com
linkedin.com/company/smartwind-technologies