Renewable energy developer Fred. Olsen Renewables has contracted wind resource campaign management specialist ZX Measurement Services (ZX MS) to support their expanding onshore wind development activities in Scotland.
Fred. Olsen Renewables is one of the longest standing renewable energy developers in Scotland. It has a UK portfolio of 258 operational turbines, alongside a further 76 consented.
This, combined with projects in Norway and Sweden, brings its total operational capacity to 787.7 MW – providing enough power for 586,190 homes.
ZX MS has now completed a 12-month comprehensive wind measurement campaign, using two ZX 300 wind Lidars at the proposed Scawd Law Wind Farm. The site is located on the Holylee Estate approximately 4km north of Walkerburn, in the Scottish Borders and consists of 8-turbines and battery storage – delivering 60MW of clean energy.
Helen Thrasher, Head of Technical at Fred. Olsen Renewables commented: “At Fred. Olsen Renewables we believe in a 'wind first' approach to development – ensuring our wind farms are designed to make the most of the onsite wind resource and be as efficient as possible. To achieve this, it is imperative that we have high quality data measurements from the site, informing our design decisions every step of the way.
“Deploying Lidar technology at Scawd Law allowed us to collect this vital data from several locations across the complex site, surveying up to our estimated tip height of 180 m. The easily deployable nature of the Lidar meant that we were able to adapt our campaign to improve our modelling accuracy as the project evolved.
“The experienced team at ZX Measurement Services has provided us with expert support throughout the campaign, from power supply and installation to communications and data measuring. The ease of having one supplier to carry out the full scope of works has been of huge benefit to this project.”
Ian Ravey, Managing Director at ZX Measurement Services commented: “We are delighted to continue to work with Fred. Olsen Renewables. Our approach to providing world-class wind measurements allows clients to access low-cost and accurate wind measurements using the industry-leading ZX 300 Lidars. We pride ourselves in providing wind data as a service throughout Europe to deliver projects such as these.”
