SPONSORS OF EAST OF SCOTLAND NEW AVIATION RADAR SYSTEM LAUNCHED
A new technology, designed to solve the issue of wind turbines showing up on aviation radar displays1 launched by Cyrrus Ltd2 Generation Ltd3
, has been . and AES Wind
It was demonstrated recently at the RenewableUK annual conference and has been presented to Members of the Scottish Parliament and to a number of aviation stakeholders. The technology, known as SMARTENERTM, removes wind turbine clutter from radar displays, whilst avoiding some of the disadvantages associated with infill solutions.
TORMYWHEEL WIND FARM SMARTENERTM, which stands for SMall Area Real Target ENhancER, has been designed by Cyrrus for the wind developer, AES Wind Generation. The concept came about as a way to address objections raised by Edinburgh Airport and NATS to the developer’s Tormywheel wind farm project in West Lothian.
The wind farm was granted consent in June 2007 with a condition requiring that an appropriate mitigation solution and implementation plan is put in place to address the objections raised. The technology utilises the fact once built the wind farm would be seen by four different radars.
SMARTENERTM
The SMARTENERTM system compares feeds from two or more radars and uses a patented process to work out whether each return is from a turbine or an aircraft. It requires no internal changes to the existing radar display or data processor. One of the major advantages of SMARTENERTM over other radar solutions is that there is no reduction in local radar coverage or issues with aircraft tracking.
Steve Hunter, Project Director at AES Wind Generation, said: “Radar objections to wind farm developments are highly technical and have proven difficult to overcome. We are therefore delighted to have been involved in the development of a technology that addresses a complex radar problem at our Tormywheel wind farm site, and which could allow many other new projects to proceed into operation.”
AES Wind Generation
www.aes.com
TO REMOVE WIND TURBINE CLUTTER Martyn Wills, Director of Cyrrus Ltd, added: “Our system has proved itself to be highly effective. In over 1,500 hours of radar data trials, SMARTENERTM achieved a thousand-fold reduction in wind turbine clutter whilst maintaining uninterrupted presentation of validated aircraft tracks to the radar display screens. This will benefit airport operators and air traffic control, wind- farm developers and land-owners whose wind-farm proposals had previously been rejected as unviable.”
AVIATION AND WIND FARM PROJECTS Aviation radar interference from wind turbines can be a major barrier to wind energy projects reaching construction and operation. RenewableUK reported in 2010 that at least 66% of all wind farm applications in the UK were subject to objections from the aviation sector. In Scotland alone, it is estimated that projects affected by aviation radar concerns amount to approximately 2,800MW of potential additional installed capacity.
Interference with aviation radar is a particular problem in the central belt of Scotland. There are three major airports in close proximity (Glasgow International, Edinburgh and Glasgow Prestwick) and the NATS long range en-route radar at Lowther Hill in the Scottish Borders.
Given the size and speed at which turbine blades move they can be picked up on radar systems and can be difficult to distinguish from aircraft. If a wind farm is judged to potentially be visible on a radar display, an objection may be raised by the military (MoD) or civilian bodies (NATS or airport operators).
1
Cyrrus Limited is a leading independent consultancy that focuses on bringing creative, contemporary solutions to the challenges facing the airport and air traffic industries. Cyrrus specialise in Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) and Air Traffic Management (ATM) programmes. For more information go to
www.cyrrus.co.uk
2
AES Wind Generation is part of the AES Corporation, one of the world’s largest power companies. It has over 2,000 MW (gross) of wind capacity in operation or under construction globally and a strong presence in Europe, with 336MW (gross) in operation or construction, and a development pipeline of over 1500MW across its European portfolio. More information about AES’ UK wind projects can be found at
www.aeswind.co.uk
3
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www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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