IEA Wind Task 52: Large-Scale Deployment of Wind Lidar (Working period 2022 - 2026)

LiDAR (‚Light detecting and ranging') systems have been used in the field of wind energy for more than a decade and have contributed significantly to a cost reduction in the last few years. Although the degree of maturity of technology has risen in the last years, widespread adoption of wind-LIDAR-devices is still faces significant challenges.

To minimize the existing obstacles, Task 32 of IEA Wind has been launched in 2013 and was working since then on the possibilities and challenges of the application of LIDAR-systems. Task 52 will now continue this work in a new phase from 2022 to 2025.

Due to the complex topography of many Austrian wind energy sites, the challenges of LiDAR measurements at alpine locations and in mountainous terrain are of great importance for Austria. Due to the ambitious expansion plans, such "complex locations" away from the lowland regions of eastern Austria will become even more important in the future.

A main part of Energiewerkstatt's contribution to Task 52 is therefore a comparative study on the data availability of LiDAR devices using different measurement principles under alpine conditions. LiDAR measurements are based on light refraction or reflection from aerosols suspended in the air. The clear and clean air at Alpine locations can therefore be a problem. This affects LiDAR devices, depending on the technical measurement principle, to a different degree. This study therefore aims at a determination and evaluation of the practical consequences of this difference under realistic site conditions.

The second focus of the Austrian participation in Task 52 is the development of a task recommendation for the use of ground-based wind-LiDAR. The main problem here is that the interpretation of LiDAR measurements requires an assumption about the flow geometry, which can induce significant uncertainties on complex terrain sites or for complex flow conditions.

Based on a suitable evaluation scheme for the classification of terrain complexity, estimates of the measurement uncertainties of ground-based LiDAR wind measurements and the suitability of possible correction schemes will be made. This sub-project essentially relies on the participation of international partners from Task 52 for the contribution of measurement data as well as of expertise and experience.

Austria, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany (Operating Agent), Japan, Korea, The Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America

Energiewerkstatt Verein
Dr. Alexander Stökl
Heiligenstatt 23
A-5211 Friedburg
E-mail: alexander.stoekl@energiewerkstatt.org