Manassas, Va.-based Catch the Wind Ltd. has released the final results of its trial program with Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD). The results demonstrated that Catch the Wind's Vindicator Laser Wind Sensor (LWS) increased the energy output of a wind turbine by an average of 12.3% as a result of better alignment with oncoming wind and increased gust detection.
The increased energy output was achieved while the Vindicator LWS controlled the turbine for only 56% of the time as specified by the parameters of the 30-day trial. Excluding statistically insufficient measurement data, the Vindicator LWS improved energy output by more than 18%, Catch the Wind says.
‘Increasing energy output by only 10 percent per turbine, for example, we believe that wind farm operators can expect to generate a present value of future cashflows in excess of $600,000 for a typical 2.5 MW turbine or $18 million for a typical 75 MW wind farm,’ says Phil Rogers, president and CEO of Catch the Wind.
As reported previously, Catch the Wind and NPPD agreed to a trial program to evaluate how using forward measurement of wind speed and direction can optimally align wind turbines with the approaching wind and reduce the off-axis stress loads on turbines.
A beta production model of the company's LWS unit was integrated with the control system of a working Vestas turbine located at NPPD's Ainsworth Wind Energy Facility in Nebraska.
SOURCE: Catch the Wind Ltd.
