Cloud computing powers the profitability of wind
ZephIR 300 wind
lidar deployed next to operational wind farm onshore as real-time troubleshooter
The wind energy industry is increasingly looking to the cloud and to modelling and simulation to solve its engineering problems, as Gemma Church reports
assumption is correct as wind farms pop up across the globe in increasingly diverse and remote locations. But a lot of innovation is going on behind the scenes. Many difficulties remain with the way we
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build and deploy wind turbines, which raises doubts over the profitability of such systems. Te physical size of the turbines has increased and this
28 SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING WORLD
ind power is a staple renewable energy source that is oſten described as relying on mature technology. In many ways, this
makes such systems more complicated, increases the costs, and adds significant financial risk to projects that can cost hundreds of millions of pounds to complete. But, while wind power does rely on mature
technology, it has not reached an evolutionary stalemate. Te tools powering the wind power industry are seeing incremental changes and embracing different methodologies to beat the challenges of reaching profitability and working in some of the most demanding and remote locations on the planet.
Some technologies, such as remote sensing
technology Lidar, could remove the need for traditional meteorological masts completely. Other groups are investigating ways and pre- existing third-party tools to improve the existing met mast technology and optimise cost savings. Or could a hybrid of old and new technologies be the way forward for the wind power industry?
Focusing on Lidar Lidar illuminates a target with an eye-safe laser and analyses the reflected light using optical components and processors to measure the speed of the wind. Tese devices have many practical advantages over traditional met masts, but their use has been restricted in the past, partly due to their cost (relative to typical onshore met masts) and partly to their slow acceptance within parts of
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