Vaisala is reporting two successful winters north of the Arctic Circle for its Triton remote sensing system, which measured the wind for Finnish developer and operator Puhuri Oy.
Vaisala says its Triton wind profiler – a compact, mobile unit with low power requirements – is built to withstand harsh winter weather conditions. With an optional, methanol-fueled extended power option to supplement the Triton’s solar panels during low-sunlight months, the system offers continuous, unattended operation for several months without refueling, the company explains.
These features enabled Puhuri to conduct six- to 14-month measurement campaigns throughout northern Finland in order to boost the profitability of the company’s wind projects.
“We build and operate wind parks in some of the world’s most challenging weather conditions,” says Teppo Hilakivi, technical expert at Puhuri Oy. “Vaisala’s Triton is the only practical way to reduce the uncertainty in our annual energy projections – allowing us to improve the profitability of our development process.”
Vaisala says its Triton wind profiler has been deployed at over 3,700 locations across more than 30 countries. The Finland-based company recently doubled the production capacity of its Boulder, Colo., operations center for the Triton.
Hilakivi continues, “Triton’s resilience in cold climate conditions is impressive; its measurements are very accurate, and the power consumption is so low that we can easily keep it running for three or four months without refueling. And when it does come time to move the Triton to a new site, it’s light enough to be towed by a normal passenger car.”
The full case study conducted with Puhuri can be found here.
