NaiKun Wind Energy Group Inc., a Vancouver, British Columbia-based energy company, has installed a ZephIR light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system, a laser wind velocity measurement system, at its offshore wind project site near the coast of Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands).
Developed by QinetiQ of the U.K., the ZephIR LiDAR technology can provide a greater profile of wind resources than regular cup anemometers because it measures wind speed, direction, turbulence and shear at multiple heights, NaiKun explains.
‘The difference in technology is dramatic, not unlike that between an X-ray and CT scan,’ says Ray Castelli, president and CEO of NaiKun. ‘Instead of a snapshot of the resource, using the LiDAR we can gain a multidimensional understanding of the wind resource and several characteristics at the project site.’ The company plans to use the data to optimize project design and layout of the wind farm.
The LiDAR system will remain operational throughout the five phases of the Haida Gwaii project and serves as one component of the NaiKun marine meteorological station recently erected in Hecate Strait. (See ‘NaiKun Installs Meteorological Station At Offshore Site.’)
