Posters

Abstract

Wind turbines continue to increase in size. For example, the SG 10.0 193 DD turbine has a rotor diameter of 193 m, and there are even larger machines in development and production. Nacelle lidars are now widely used in the industry for prototype development and turbine performance measurement. IEC standards recommend hub height and rotor equivalent wind speed measurements at ranges of 2.5 rotor diameters. Lidar technology must now demonstrate that it can be used reliably at the longer ranges associated with these large turbine rotor diameters. In tandem with the longer ranges, the larger rotor turbines can benefit from wind field measurements over their full areas – shear and veer profiles experienced even in simple terrain mean that hub height measurements alone are insufficient for accurate turbine load and power performance characterisation. Circular scan lidars allow these measurements to be made, ensuring, for example, that rotor equivalent wind speeds can be measured, taking into account veer and shear over the rotor. This paper will present the results from several campaigns, on a variety of wind turbines, including comparisons with reference instruments at ranges of up to 550 m. The results confirm the utility of nacelle mounted lidars for these types of measurements