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LONDON, England, June 14, 2006 (Refocus
Weekly)
The Royal Air Force is conducting military
manoeuvres with a selection of different RAF aircraft to assess a
technology that is designed to overcome the interference from wind
turbines on air traffic radar.
Clatter mountain near Newtown in the centre of Wales will be used
for the test because it is situated near four operational windfarms:
Bryn Titli, P&L (Llandinam), Cefn Croes and Carno A&B. The various
size, scale and model of turbines will provide a rigorous test for
each technology.
The Ministry of Defence is working with the Department of Trade &
Industry and the British Wind Energy Association, with support from
National Air Traffic Services and the Civil Aviation Authority, to
test if two technologies from BAE Systems and Selex S.I. resolve the
problems of interference from turbines. A mobile Watchman radar has
been located near the windfarms to allow both RAF and an independent
teams to conduct calibrated trial flights.
If either technology is deemed suitable, it will free a “significant
number of potential locations for windfarms across the UK that could
contribute to the government’s renewable energy target,” says energy
minister Malcolm Wicks. “There are still hurdles to be overcome but,
one by one, we are knocking down the barriers that could prevent us
reaching that target.”
The UK government wants 10% of its electricity to come from green
power sources by 2010 and 20% by 2020, with wind energy expected to
make a major contribution. Windfarms “can be controversial and that
is why it’s vital that we site them correctly,” he says. “Overcoming
the complex and challenging issue of radar interference will
increase our options.”
Windfarms that are sited within the line of site of radar have the
potential to interfere with radar systems and navigational aids used
for civil and military air traffic control radar. The aviation
sector has objected to a significant amount of onshore and offshore
wind projects.
Interference is site specific and depends on the number of turbines,
size and layout of the windfarm, type of turbines. type of radar,
local geography and it varies with weather conditions. Interference
can arise from extraneous signal returns from windfarms (clutter),
loss of radar plots for aircraft flying above windfarms, erroneous
tracks created by returns from turbines or by reflected signals, or
shadows near turbines that radar cannot see.
“This interference is a problem that has to be overcome all over the
world and the pioneering work being done in Wales puts the UK at the
forefront of the technology, with the inherent business benefits
that can bring,” says Wicks. “It is encouraging to see government,
industry and the military working closely together to find a
solution.”
Different RAF aircraft will fly over the windfarms to test BAE’s
Advanced Digital Tracker and the Sensis SPE-3000 processor. The
technology is designed to register the aircraft among similar images
(radar clutter) caused by the rotating blades of the wind turbines.
“We must sustain essential military activity in the UK, whilst fully
supporting the government’s renewable energy policy,” says Tom
Watson of the MOD. “We hope that, as a result of these trials, an
increased number of windfarms can be built without any risk to the
Armed Forces ability to train and operate in the UK.”
BAE Systems says its Advanced Digital Tracker can eliminate false
returns from turbine blades and is effective in mitigating windfarm
effects by offering a simple ‘add-on’ filter for new and existing
radar systems.
The British Wind Energy Association says wind will be the single
greatest contributor to the UK target of 10% by 2010 and, combined
with wave and tidal power, can supply 21% of Britain’s projected
electricity needs by 2020, resulting in £16 billion of investment in
the UK.
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