The WindScanner facility is a laser-based wind measurement system that can generate detailed maps of wind conditions above and from inside a wind farm covering several square kilometres. The facility, headed up by Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy at the Technical University of Denmark [Risø DTU] relies on innovative remote sensing laser-based wind measurement devices called Lidars (Light detection and ranging).

Information provided by WindScanners will allow wind turbine manufacturers to match the design and size of a turbine used on a site to the local wind conditions, allowing wind energy to be exploited more efficiently. Mobile WindScanner units will be designed for deployment on and offshore via regional nodes for diagnose of local wind conditions and for mitigating problems at projected and existing wind farms that are repeatedly experiencing technical issues.

WindScanners can be ground-based or they can be integrated into wind turbine hubs, spinners, nacelles and blades to provide detailed and timely prevision of the incoming wind field and wind gusts.

WindScanners will also be used by the growing European wind energy industry to develop better, larger and more durable wind turbines, and by the aviation industry, e.g. to detect wind shear and turbulence along runways, making flying, and especially landing, safer.

Website: http://www.windscanner.eu/

Grant agreement no: 312372