Wind market making way for more cost-effective forecasting solutions
As the wind power industry matures, wind forecasting technologies are becoming critical to integrating greater amounts of variable wind energy into the grid. Currently meteorological towers, or met towers, are the predominant forecasting solution, but these towers will increasingly give way to remote sensing devices, such as sound detection and ranging (sodar) and light detection and ranging (lidar) systems, according to Navigant Research.
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A portable sodar wind profiling system. Credit: NOAA/Wikimedia Commons |
"As wind turbines grow in size, met towers are no longer cost-effective, and the value proposition for using met towers alone is rapidly vanishing," said Feng Zhao, managing consultant with Navigant Research. "Additionally, pressure from grid operators demanding more accurate power scheduling from wind farm operators and the challenges of lowering the cost of offshore wind energy are making remote sensing devices increasingly attractive."
Both sodar and lidar, the two primary technology approaches to remote sensing, are based on ground-mounted devices that use Doppler effect analysis to measure the wind space above the unit. The market dynamic between sodar and lidar is evolving and unsettled as these technologies are effectively competing for market leadership but no clear front-runner has emerged, according to Navigant.
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