Two East Coast deepwater offshore wind developers have deployed floating lidar systems to provide critical data about wind conditions high above the ocean’s surface that will help with blade and other equipment design.
On June 2, the University of Maine, Orono, launched a floating lidar system beside the VolturnUS 1:8 floating offshore wind turbine, which was connected to the grid on June 13 at Castine. It is the first grid-connected floating wind turbine in North America. The lidar system detects wind conditions up to 600 ft above the ocean surface. AWS Truepower, headquartered in Albany, N.Y., plans to validate the data collected by the university’s floating system.