natural power

ZephIR® laser anemometer

lidar wind profiler for

reliable, accurate, bankable wind data
up to 200m from ground level

clever ™
 deployed with:
measure wind with ZephIR®
We pioneered the use of LiDAR in the wind industry some eight years
ago. with more than 200 ZephIR deployments globally we remain the
market leader.

ZephIR has successfully operated through Canadian winters and Australian summers. Customers
have financed projects using ZephIR data. Banks’ Engineers recommend ZephIR onshore and
offshore to both complement and replace traditional masts. This is how we do it:

• 10m to 200m wind profile - speed, direction, turbulence

• Speed accuracy* < 0.5%
• Direction accuracy* < 0.5°
Natural Power ZephIR

Natural Power ZephIR

• 50 data points per second
• - 25°C to + 40°C operation (extendable operating range)
• 100W average power draw**
• + 5 years experience in the field
• Industry approved calibration
• Accepted by Banks’ Engineers
• One-man portable pods

So what can we do to reduce your project risk and uncertainty?

measure the wind up to

200 m
etres e
from
groun t e nc
d is s en
level d t h
.. . . . . . . .
in t h e t ime it takes to rea
* as measured against a calibrated moving target
** in standard dry climates (-13°C to +25°C)
Natural Power ZephIR

Natural Power ZephIR

ZephIR has been used on more than
200 deployments and has operated in
23 countries worldwide
 “ZephIR is approved to be added to the RERL
suite of wind speed measurement devices“

ZephIR APPLICATIONS - University of Massachusetts (UMASS)

IN THE WIND INDUSTRY

“During the offshore assessment campaign

The accurate prediction of energy yields is fundamental to the ZephIR came up with a remarkable data
success of wind farm projects. Yield prediction accuracy increases availability, clearly being better than the
by collecting high quality wind data from numerous points demanded 95%... ZephIR should now be
throughout a wind farm and at appropriate heights including the thought of as a powerful tool to aid in the
full rotor sweep. This density of data collection is difficult and understanding of flow conditions on sites
expensive to achieve with traditional anemometry masts alone. being investigated“

- Germanischer Lloyd WINDTEST

Based at ground level, ZephIR provides complete wind resource measurement including horizontal
Natural Power ZephIR

Natural Power ZephIR

and vertical wind speed, wind direction and turbulence at any height up to 200 metres without
the need for a mast. ZephIR requires no planning permits and removes the need to work at height, “The ZephIR technology has provided NaiKun
mitigating associated health & safety issues. with continual wind resource measurement
in a very challenging offshore environment.
The portability of ZephIR and ease of deployment makes high density data collection a reality with Its reliability and performance has been close
50 measurements per height per second, both horizontally and vertically across the extent of your to 100 per cent and is a valuable asset in the
site. ZephIR is used in four phases of a project: development of the NaiKun offshore wind
project in Hecate Strait near Haida Gwaii (the
• Site prospecting, assessment and turbine micro-siting Queen Charlotte Islands)”
• Wind flow model verification
• Power curve assessment - NaiKun Wind Development Inc.
• Permanent wind farm anemometry and operational wind farm analysis

ZephIR has been independently tested and validated by respected parties in the wind industry. “We evaluated ZephIR’s performance next
to a 100m mast in complex terrain and
witnessed extremely high correlations against
traditional meteorology, at all heights”

- Center for Renewable Energy Sources (CRES)

 THE PRINCIPLES OF LIDAR

200 metres (656 feet) allowing

dr michael harris, senior scientist at natural power, measurements across the full wind
has spent over a decade working in the field of lidar turbine rotor diameter including hub
height and tip height measurements.
research and design. michael was fundamental in the
design concept of ZephIR at one of europe’s leading
research and development institutes. below, he
outlines the principles of lidar.

“An eye-safe infrared beam illuminates natural aerosols in the atmosphere

(such as dust, pollen and water droplets) and a small fraction of the light is
Natural Power ZephIR

Natural Power ZephIR

back scattered into a receiver. Motion of the target particles along the beam direction leads to a 5 user defined heights configured
using the simple ZephIR Waltz™
change in the light’s frequency through Doppler shift which is then accurately measured. software supplied with every system.

A conical scan pattern is used to move the

beam and intercept the wind at different angles,
building up a series of measurements around a
disc of air from which the wind speed vector is
obtained.

ZephIR obtains each measurement in just 20 25 minutes set-up 10 metres (33 feet) allowing
for correlations to short masts
milliseconds and one second of data can be or historic wind data. Low
used to derive the horizontal and vertical wind speed components and wind direction. This can measurements are particularly
important offshore when the
then be repeated from 10 metres up to a height of 200 metres, at five or more user-defined system is on a raised platform or
heights by focussing the transmitted beam.” when an accurate onshore shear
measurement is required.

Michael is invited to present lidar papers and tuition sessions within a wide range of organisations
across Europe and North America. He has conducted fundamental optics research at JILA
2 metres (6 foot 6 inches) ground
(Boulder, Colorado) and the University of Essex. level wind measurements plus
temperature, barometric pressure
and humidity.
 ZephIR evaluated at Risø’s Høvsøre test, 2009
ZephIR is compared to the fixed anemometry at Risø’s Høvsøre 116m met mast during a test campaign over Winter 2009.

ZephIR vs. cup @ 100m ZephIR vs. cup @ 80m

20 18

18
16

16

INDEPENDENT CORRELATIONS
14

14
12

ZephIR Wind Speed 78m (m/s)

ZephIR Wind Speed 98m
12

10

10

8
8

6 y = 0.999x 6
y = 1.000x
R² = 0.986 R² = 0.988
Risø evaluation of ZephIR at Høvsøre, 2008 4 4

ZephIR is compared to the fixed anemometry at Risø’s Høvsøre 116m met mast. Ten minute average wind speeds are 2 2

collected over a 10 week period at 4 heights. This recent study took place during the Spring of 2008. 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Mast Wind Speed 100m
Mast Wind Speed 80m (m/s)

ZephIR vs. cup @ 60m ZephIR vs. cup @ 40m

18
18

16
16

14
14

12
12

ZephIR Wind Speed 38m (m/s)

ZephIR Wind Speed 58m (m/s)
Natural Power ZephIR

Natural Power ZephIR

10
10

8
8

6
y = 0.999x
6
y = 0.999x
R² = 0.992 4
R² = 0.986
4

2
2

0
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Mast Wind Speed 40m (m/s)
Mast Wind Speed 60m (m/s)

Germanischer Lloyd WINDTEST evaluation of ZephIR offshore at FINO1 research platform, 2006
ZephIR is compared to the fixed anemometry over a six month period.
The correlation graphs show the relationship between the wind speed readings from a cup and the corresponding wind
speed readings from the ZephIR. Data are plotted against each other and a line of best fit drawn. By forcing this line
of best fit through the origin its gradient, y, indicates the mean difference between the two readings. For example, a
gradient of 1.01 would indicate a difference of 1%. The R 2 value gives an assessment of how well correlated the two
sets of values are. If the cup and the ZephIR always read identically then the R 2 value will be 1, i.e. they are perfectly
correlated. At the other extreme, an R 2 value of zero would indicate that the values bear no relationship to each other
whatsoever.

Evaluation of ZephIR at a tall mast in North America, 2009

The identical ZephIR system tested above is also compared to the fixed anemometry at a 193m met mast during a test
campaign in Spring, 2009.

For the above campaign, the availability was recorded as:

• 100% for the overall system availability

• 99.6% for the overall data availability
 BENEFITS OF
ZephIR LIDAR cloud recognition and removal

Not all LiDARs are the same. ZephIR IS designed around very simple, clouds can be highly scattering objects which provide a signal that
rugged and reliable optics, the heart of which is a continuous wave is measured by lidars. inclusion of these signals in processed data
(CW) LiDAR which provides clear advantages over other lidar systems could lead to an overall increase in the uncertainty of the wind
speed measured.

Sensitivity ZephIR is able to recognise and remove this cloud signal using a patented cloud removal algorithm. This has been
extensively tested in a number of locations, and its effectiveness demonstrated by correlation analysis against calibrated
ZephIR’s sensitivity remains constant at all heights ensuring high data availability in all conditions.
tall masts.
The emitted laser beam is focussed at each user configured height - the laser power does not
Natural Power ZephIR

Natural Power ZephIR

change at each height or with range and so the sensitivity does not degrade.
Sample rate
ZephIR measures 50 data points every second across a full 360 degree scan providing the high
sample rate advantageous in complex and fast changing air flows.
During the wind profile scan, background measurements are taken to quantify the specific cloud return and the cloud
effect is then removed from the processed data. In general, Lidars of various types of design will all have difficulty
measuring in very low cloud and fog scenarios; the light emitted from the Lidar simply doesn’t reach the height of
interest due to the density of the atmosphere. Whilst this atmospheric condition mostly occurs during low wind speed
periods, it is essential that these periods be identified. With ZephIR these particular conditions can be ‘seen’ and
automatically detected and filtered.

ZephIR can be configured so that the data output is automatically filtered for such conditions of reduced certainty, ready
Accurate measurements to use wind data simply presented to you over the averaging period of your choice.
ZephIR provides highly accurate measurements from 200 metres down to just 10 metres from
ground level where wind shear typically changes more rapidly with height. TOTAL DATA DATA POINTS
HEIGHT y (mean difference) R2 (correlation)
POINTS WITH CLOUD
116m 0.990 0.986 2604 1098
As height increases and wind shear changes less rapidly, ZephIR still provides highly accurate
100m 0.999 0.986 2603 1098
measurements with a probe length of less than 8 metres @ 100 metres height. Similarly, the 80m 1.000 0.988 2601 1094
optics are designed such that at 200 metres, ZephIR delivers excellent results as demonstrated on 60m 0.999 0.992 2597 1093

the previous page. 40m 0.999 0.986 2740 1192

ZephIR’s optical design ensures that at these crucial low heights, probe length (effective sample
length) can be as small as just 7 cm.
In order to demonstrate the accurate performance of ZephIR with cloud conditions the above results have been
measured. The data set below was taken during periods of both clear (~ 60%) and cloudy (~40%) skies. The number
of data points taken during cloud has been indicated (cloud was measured using a Ceilometer), demonstrating excellent
accuracy in extreme cloud conditions.
 INDUSTRY ACCEPTED SAFETY & ENVIRONMENTAL
VALIDATION CERTIFICATIONS

All LiDAR systems Need to be successfully VALIDATED to an industry LiDAR systems in the wind industry must operate safely. ZephIR
accepted standard before customers commence deployment. has undergone rigorous safety testing ensuring any user can
Banks’ engineer Garrad Hassan have worked with us in defining effectively operate the system with minimal training and no specific
the principles of our certification process for all new systems. qualifications or certification in lasers. We have successfully
This provides the traceability which is a key element of formal adhered to European safety laws and kept within the lowest level
energy prediction reports used by the financial community. Before of laser classification. As a CE-marked, certified Class 1 laser
shipping, each ZephIR undergoes several stages of rigorous checks. system, ZephIR can be deployed safely anywhere, by any able body.
These processes are repeated as part of the routine maintenance
whenever a unit returns to Natural Power. Conformité Européenne - the CE mark ZephIR is IP65 rated for resistance to particle and water
Natural Power ZephIR

Natural Power ZephIR

The CE marking is a mandatory conformity mark on many penetration. Deployments on offshore platforms have
The reference system is compared below to the fixed products placed on the single market in the European demonstrated the systems ability to withstand offshore
Velocity and Directional Accuracy
anemometry at the test site showing strong correlation and a Economic Area (EEA). The CE marking certifies that a product conditions such as sea spray and salt corrosion for prolonged
The velocity and directional accuracy are checked in the
gradient close to 1: has met EU consumer safety, health and environmental periods of time.
laboratory against a calibrated moving target, to an accuracy
requirements.
of better than 0.5%. The velocity calibration depends only on
The tall, round design of ZephIR ensures snow does not build
laser wavelength and scanner cone angle, so there is no risk
ZephIR is CE compliant, certified by an independent up during severe weather conditions. The top pod has a very
of drift even over an extended period of operation.
compliance company who are fully UKAS accredited. small surface area and is angled to reduce the risk of snow
gathering and prevent the laser beam being emitted.
Velocity resolution of ZephIR is very high and its accuracy is
ZephIR achieved full safety compliance for electrical
measured to be 0.003m/s against a calibrated moving belt
equipment and measurement, standard EN61010- Laser safety
target.
1:2001. The operator of a laser system outdoors must comply with
the international legislation on laser safety (IEC 60825-1) to
Focussing at Height
ZephIR has achieved EN61326:1997 for EMC emissions ensure protection of workers and the general public. Higher
ZephIR focus is calibrated at the factory and its range is set by
and susceptibility. class lasers (Class 3R, Class 3B, Class 4) are potentially
a closed loop positioning system.
hazardous and their use outdoors places a responsibility on
Environmental performance the user to minimise any risks.
Calibrated Reference Unit
A typical new ZephIR system is compared below to the Wind projects are often sited in challenging conditions where
Each ZephIR undergoes an outdoor test to measure wind
reference system and again shows strong correlation and a equipment is exposed to the elements for extended periods ZephIR has been independently certified as Class 1, the
speed side-by-side against a Reference Unit. The Reference
gradient close to 1: of time. lowest laser category into which everyday devices such as CD
Unit has been checked against a tall mast such as at Risø’s
players are placed and poses no hazard to operators.
Høvsøre test site; this provides traceability to measurements.
ZephIR is constructed using a twin-skin Glass Reinforced
Risø are the National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy at the
Plastic (Polyvitro infusion composite) with a layer of The international standard defines Class 1 as:
Technical University of Denmark - DTU.
Xtratherm Polysio (PIR) Foam. This method of fabrication “lasers that are safe under reasonably foreseeable conditions
has proved highly successful across the full and extensive of operation, including the use of optical instruments for
operating temperature range which has been tested both in intrabeam viewing”.
an environmental chamber and in the field during customer
deployments.
 SYSTEM SOFTWARE
ZephIR Waltz™ & ZephIR Tempo™ DATA DOWNLOAD

ZephIR is supplied with propriety software - Waltz™ and Tempo™ - that Once data has been downloaded to your computer it is a simple click
provides a user-friendly interface to your ZephIR via a PC. to export it all in to a .CSV file format for analysis, or import it
directly in to a program such as Windographer. Data is presented
in a format consistent with traditional anemometry, keeping the
process simple for wind engineers.

ZephIR Waltz Header Descriptions

Waltz allows the user to access ZephIR remotely in realtime to The screen shot below is a view of the operational screen and Reference; Each one second measurement has a reference Max Gust (m/s); Maximum one second wind speed
configure heights, play data live and access system updates. highlights the data collected by ZephIR. associated with it. The reference starts at zero and increments measured by the ZephIR in the ten minute average.
The screen shot below shows just how simple it is to configure with each reading.
Natural Power ZephIR

Natural Power ZephIR

the five different heights between 10m and 200m from ZephIR Bearing (degrees); Compass bearing of ZephIR
ground level. Timestamp; The time and date of the reading as a North arrow.
numerical format in seconds.
Met. Speed; Horizontal wind speed as measured by the
Height (m); Current ZephIR measurement height. met. station.

Horizontal Velocity (m/s); Mean horizontal wind speed as Wind Vane Reading (degrees); Wind direction as read by
measured by the ZephIR at the given height. ZephIR met. mast

Vertical Velocity (m/s); Mean vertical wind speed as Temperature (C); Ambient temperature measured by the
measured by the ZephIR at the given height. MET station.

Wind Direction (degrees); Wind direction as measured by Pressure (hPa); Ambient pressure measured by the met.
the ZephIR at the given height. station.

Turbulence Intensity; Mean variation of individual point Humidity; Ambient humidity measured by the met. station.
measurements from the mean wind speed. This is normalised
by the horizontal wind speed. Status Flags; Internal ZephIR status [Red/Amber/Green].

Min Gust (m/s); Minimum one second wind speed measured GPS Data; GPS location data as set in the configuration.
by the ZephIR in the ten minute average.
ZephIR Tempo Battery Status (v); External supply voltage if present,
Tempo allows for automated, scheduled data download otherwise internal battery voltage.
at a set period. Customers with multiple units are able to
automatically, quickly and consistently dial in to units and
download all data since the last scheduled download.
 POWER SOLUTIONS COMMUNICATION OPTIONS

ZephIR REQUIRES A CONSTANT 100 WATT SUPPLY DURING NORMAL OPERATING remote sensing devices are deployed worldwide and require flexible
conditions. WHILST MANAGING A FLEET OF RENTAL SYSTEMS WE HAVE communications to SECURELY access data directly from your desk
gained MUCH EXPERIENCE IN Providing remote power. across a variety of networks.

ZephIR standard power requirements
To ensure ZephIR only draws the power it needs during
varying operating temperatures, the system is designed to
automatically control heaters and fans as necessary. Details of
the power requirements varying conditions are shown below.
Natural Power ZephIR
in practice over several winter and summer seasons that
operation is possible down to -40°C when an insulation
jacket is used and up to +50°C at the other extreme. If
ZephIR is exposed to temperatures below -10 degrees
regularly it is recommended to use an insulating jacket. This
Ethernet
Ethernet is a global networking standard supporting high
speed communications locally, or over distance. The ZephIR
Ethernet port can be connected directly to a laptop or
into Wifi, the Internet or a corporate network for direct
Communications Service Package
Natural Power are happy to offer a fully managed service
package for your communications requirements. Please get
in touch to find out more.

Natural Power ZephIR

ZephIR is specified to operate between -25°C and +40°C . reduces power draw and provides some protection from the communications with your office. Data Storage
ZephIR has been laboratory tested within these ranges but elements. ZephIR writes all data to an integral, removable flash memory
operation outside of this range is possible. We have seen GSM card. Customers are able to store 12 months of 3 second
The most widely supported mobile phone protocol is GSM. wind data on one card. This onboard storage offers a back-
It is used by over 3 billion people across more than 212 up should the regional communications network have any
Standard Climate Cold Climate Hot Climate
(-13°C to +25°C) (-25°C to -13°C) (+25°C to +40°C) countries and territories. Each ZephIR comes with a built in failures during the deployment.
GSM modem. This allows communication with the ZephIR
Standard draw 100W 110W* 100W
through the telephone network using a modem. GPRS is Natural Power anemometry services
Heaters - 76W - also supported, allowing direct access from internet enabled We are able to provide a fully managed anemometry service
Fans - - 18W machines and support for networks where GSM is not for your ZephIR deployments ensuring all wind data is
TOTAL 100W 186W 118W available. downloaded, stored and delivered to you. Our wind engineers
currently manage a portfolio of anemometry devices globally
* in cold weather the standard draw increases from 100W to 110W due to heaters in the MET station drawing 10W Iridium for project developers and utilities.
For ultimate flexibility, the Iridium satellite network provides
During extreme cold conditions where the batteries have been completely discharged higher power draw will occur. During wiper
activation an additional 10W is required periodically. ZephIR has 12 - 24 hours reserve power provided by internal batteries. truly global communications for your ZephIR. Simply connect
the optional Iridium modem to get direct access to your
INPUT VOLTAGE RANGE: 27.75v +/- 0.5v
device, pole to pole.

Satellite Internet
Where standard mobile infrastructure fails, satellite internet
can be deployed. This method provides a high speed,
dedicated link between the ZephIR and the internet using a
satellite dish and can be used in locations with line-of-site to
geo-synchronous satellites over the equator.
 NATURAL POWER’S METHODOLOGY
IN COMPLEX TERRAIN
the state of the art in the application of remote sensing and CFD
Complex wind farm sites present various challenges which
can often limit the applicability of conventional wind resource
Natural Power ZephIR
and energy yield measurement assessment methods, due to
the complexity of the flow physics at play and the spatial and
temporal variations in the flow conditions.
The effects of this are varied; the typically steep slopes
encountered on complex terrain sites often violate the
assumptions on which linearised flow models are based,
notably the assumption that topography is a perturbation
to the horizontal flow, rather than a true 3-D effect. An
off-horizontal flow can result in measurement errors with
anemometry. Additionally, forestry cannot be accurately
modelled using simple methods for a number of reasons.
Regions with significant veer can complicate wake loss
and wind prediction calculations. Finally, strong wind speed
gradients make the energy yield very sensitive to the precise
location of the measurement systems used.
Measuring and predicting wind flows in complex terrain
requires a methodology that addresses the above challenges.
Natural Power has developed a best-practice methodology
which combines several leading technologies to reduce
and quantify wind resource and energy yield prediction
uncertainties.
MEASURING TURBULENCE
TURBULENCE CAN MANIFEST ITSELF AS GUSTS, EDDIES, AND FLUCTUATIONS
IN WIND SPEED. IT IS IMPORTANT IN WIND ENERGY APPLICATIONS TO
CHARACTERISE THE LEVELS OF TURBULENCE ENCOUNTERED AT A SPECIFIC
SITE LOCATION. A COMMONLY-USED BASIC MEASURE OF TURBULENCE IS
TURBULENCE INTENSITY (TI). ZEPHIR AUTOMATICALLY CALCULATES AND LOGS
THE VALUES OF TI FOR EACH 10-MINUTE MEASUREMENT PERIOD.
The Natural Power methodology uses a combination of high- ZephIR calculates the turbulence intensity (TI) that a The plot below shows a comparison of standard deviation
density measurement campaigns alongside an advanced CFD conventional cup would have obtained at the same for 10-minute averaged horizontal wind speeds obtained by
Natural Power ZephIR
flow model (VENTOS®). VENTOS® has been specifically and measurement height by analysing the variation in individual ZephIR and calibrated cup anemometer mounted on 80m
intensively validated for application on complex terrain and wind speed values during a 10-minute averaging period. meteorological mast. All sectors are included and no filtering
forested sites. This value of TI is automatically logged in the output data. has been performed. ZephIR was deployed 62m from the
The calculation takes into account the difference between mast in flat terrain; the agreement between individual points
A map is produced showing the area of highest flow point measurements obtained from a cup anemometer, and is affected by the separation and differing probe volumes,
complexity in terms of turbulence, shear, inflow angle, veer spatially-averaged lidar data where a volume is interrogated. an overall assessment of the site turbulance shows good
and deviation from conventional flow modelling results. This ZephIR’s measurements of turbulence have been investigated agreement.
identifies areas where flow modelling uncertainty is highest in a number of independent studies against calibrated met
and informs where further measurement campaigns are masts in flat, offshore and complex terrain, and at different * “Investigation of turbulence measurements with a
best performed in order to deliver an optimised reduction in heights above ground*. continuous wave, conically scanning lidar”, R Wagner, T
prediction uncertainty. Measurements are then performed at Mikkelsen, M Courtney, Risø-R-1682(EN), March 2009
as many locations as deemed necessary, using a combination
of conventional anemometry and ZephIR (a lidar wind
profiler) as required to obtain an optimum balance between
measurement density and increased certainty in the results.
These measured and modelled data sets are then fed into
an overall analysis model, with the output of the process
being a set of maps which describe the full set of flow
variables across the site, validated by measurements. These
variables include; inflow angle, veer, shear profile across the
rotor disk, mean horizontal velocity and turbulence intensity.
These variables not only serve as turbine micro-siting
constraints and to provide an estimate of mean annual wind
resource and energy production, but serve as an input to site
classification and wind quality analyses, which are increasingly
required for engaging with prospective turbine technology
suppliers on complex terrain sites.
 Image courtesy and copyright of CENER
ZephIR - an integrated tool at CENER’s
CASE STUDY 1 : Spain experimental test site in complex terrain
National Renewable Energy Centre (CENER)

The purpose of the CENER Wind Energy Department is to develop

applied research activities and give technical advice in the field of
wind energy, providing a service for all the sector players, such
as developers, manufacturers, certification authorities, financial
institutions, users, associations and administrative bodies, both
at home and abroad. The aim, in short, is to improve the efficiency
and therefore the competitiveness of an evolving sector. In this
sense, the CENER Wind Energy Department is working on different
research projects, on its own initiative and in cooperation with
Natural Power ZephIR

Natural Power ZephIR

technological centres, institutions and companies.

“During 2009 and 2010 the Wind energy Department of CENER is measurement according to IEC 61400-12-1, and in parallel used the
developing an experimental test site in complex terrain in the north ZephIR lidar data to provide wind profile information, in order to obtain
of Spain, for the testing of multi-megawatt wind turbines, up to 120m a better understanding of the wind conditions across the rotor area,
hub height. and study its effect on power production.

ZephIR is an integrated tool of this facility, which complements the
measurements provided by the meteorological masts. In particular,
ZephIR allows measuring the wind conditions up to heights greater
than hub height. Moreover, the option for mobility that the lidar
provides, allow us to measure upwind or downwind conditions
when required. ZephIR has been integrated in the experimental
site calibration, in order to allow for future use of the lidar as a
complement to standard-compliant tests and research activities.
At the moment, we are using ZephIR to keep on with lidar-related
research activities. In particular, within the SafeWind Project (EU
7th Framework Program), which focuses on extreme events,
we are working on the creation of a long-term database of lidar
measurements in complex terrain. One of CENER’s tasks in this
project is to investigate the benefits of new measurement techniques
(remote sensing) for resource assessment and forecasting purposes.”

CENER’s previous experience with ZephIR lidar includes various

measurement campaigns, mainly in complex terrain. Most of our
activities have been carried out under the framework of the UpWind
project (EU 6th Framework Program). The aim of our work has been
to contribute to enhance the knowledge on the performance of this
technology in complex terrain.

Particular cases of study have been the installation of a ZephIR lidar

in the proximity of a wind turbine and IEC-compliant meteorological
masts, in order to analyse the wind vector at various heights, wind
shear and turbulence. During 2009 we carried out a power curve
 “ZephIR has achieved 95% data availability

CASE STUDY 2 : North America for the past 9 months demonstrating its reliability
NaiKun Wind Development Inc and suitability in such challenging conditions.”

In 2006 NaiKun began working with Natural Power on a novel

approach to gathering wind data offshore for the Hecate Strait
wind farm project off the coast of North West British Columbia. Not
wishing to compromise data accuracy by reducing mast installation
costs, NaiKun looked at remote sensing technologies as a way
forward.

Over the following months NaiKun developed a world-class marine than 50% of all certifications. GL WINDTEST has been providing
Natural Power ZephIR

Natural Power ZephIR

meteorological station equipped with ZephIR as the sole on-site
resource assessment tool to provide a bankable wind regime across
the site, plus a number of other high-tech devices for measuring sea
current velocities and wave heights, periods and direction. All data is
transmitted in real-time to their wind resource managers in Germany,
and met-ocean managers in Victoria, BC. The data collected will
play an important role in pre-engineering the project and identifying
optimal siting of wind turbine locations.
“Natural Power’s ZephIR will improve our ability to profile
the resource by providing wind measurements within the
entire area of a turbine blade rotation; from base to hub
height within seconds. Traditional anemometers provide
data, but only at one height and cannot capture other wind
characteristics like this particular LiDAR system does,” noted
Peter Hunter, Vice President for Design & Planning at NaiKun
Wind Development. “The difference in technology is dramatic,
not unlike that between an X-Ray and CT scan. Instead of a
snapshot of the resource, using ZephIR we can gain a multi-
dimensional understanding of the wind resource and several
characteristics at the project site. The data collected will be
used to optimise project design and layout of the wind farm.”
NaiKun with operational support, data collection from the ZephIR via
SatComms, system integrity checks and the ongoing data analysis in
the Hecate Strait wind farm project.
Commenting on the success of the project, Detlef Kindler, Senior
Offshore Project Manager for GL WINDTEST highlighted that “one
critical performance indicator of such remote solutions
described here is availability and ensuring continuous data
collection. ZephIR has achieved 95% data availability for the
past 9 months demonstrating it’s reliability and suitability in
such challenging conditions.” Kindler also commented that “with
more than 3 years of operating ZephIR’s the system can now
be seen not as an emerging technology but as a product and
tool that wind engineers should call upon for wind resource
assessment. The NaiKun project has clearly demonstrated
that ZephIR can assist developers not only onshore but now
offshore also.”

ZephIR has now successfully been gathering data on the station for
the past 12 months, acting as the sole on-site resource assessment
tool. The platform has been managed by GL WINDTEST - the world’s
leading certification body in the wind energy field.

GL WINDTEST has extensive experience in certifying onshore and

offshore wind energy products and projects, responsible for more
 “ZephIR gives us better confidence than ever before

CASE STUDY 3 : New Zealand that conditions at potential wind farm sites
Meridian Energy Ltd are acceptable.”

Meridian Energy generates electricity from 100% renewable

resources with a portfolio of hydro and wind generation. In
developing wind projects such as West Wind in Wellington and
Te Uku near Hamilton it was crucial to obtain wind data quickly and
in difficult terrain - erecting hub height meteorological masts was
not feasible in all locations that were identified as requiring wind
measurements so they began looking for a new methodology.
Natural Power ZephIR

Natural Power ZephIR

Meridian purchased one of the first production ZephIR
systems back in 2005 and followed this by purchasing a
further second system in 2008.
Paul Botha, Wind Technical Consultant at Meridian, explains
how ZephIR is used across sites in New Zealand. “Our
ZephIR’s are extremely valuable in measuring from
short masts at around 30m upto hub height at around
90m. Short tilt-up masts are cheap to install and
ZephIR can be placed next to the mast for periods
of approximately 6 weeks to obtain good hub height
measurements. We can also use ZephIR for micro-siting
around a large site, returning to the mast as a reference
point.”
Dougal McQueen, Research Associate at Meridian, has much
field deployment experience having operated ZephIR’s for the
past four years. “It takes me less than an hour to install
our ZephIR and begin measurements at height. The
reliability of the units themselves has been good and
the casing’s composite plastic structure is extremely
tough and well suited to the environment and rugged
terrain here in NZ. ZephIR gives us better confidence
than ever before that conditions at potential wind farm
sites are acceptable.”

In addition, Meridian are able to assess wind flow with

ZephIR where access is difficult and terrain conditions mean
a guyed mast may not be able to be installed. Botha notes
“We measure wind shear across the entire rotor disk
notably up to 130m, and can understand other wind
characteristics such as inflow angle at turbine locations
in complex terrain. We have also used ZephIR to
provide a qualitative turbulence intensity assessment,
measuring fluctuations in wind direction and eddies.”
 Image courtesy and copyright of Risø DTU
“since the very first ZephIR unit trialled, the product

CASE STUDY 4 : Denmark combines revolutionary ideas with high accuracy.”

Risø DTU

The Danish wind turbine industry has a 40% share of the global
market and employs more than 20,000 people, making it the world
leader in wind power. some 20% of DENMARK’S domestic electricity
production comes from wind. The development of wind power in
Denmark is characterised by a close collaboration between publicly
financed research and industry in key areas such as research
and development, certification, testing, and the preparation of
standards. Risø DTU play a pivotal role in providing this r&D to
denmark’s growing wind industry.
Natural Power ZephIR

Natural Power ZephIR

In January 2004, Risø DTU took delivery of the first ZephIR
prototype, and shortly afterwards used it to perform the first
lidar comparisons against their tall mast at Høvsøre. Since
then, Risø have tested over a dozen ZephIR systems for the
purposes of:
• Independent correlations for customers using ZephIR
as the sole source of anemometry on projects
• Ongoing ZephIR research & development
• Development of new products and algorithms
• Traceable calibration for Natural Power’s ZephIR
reference system
“We have been working with Natural Power ever since
the very first ZephIR unit was trialled; from the start
the product combined revolutionary ideas with high
accuracy, and we have seen this further improved over
the following years. The ZephIR team at Natural Power
has always been open to developing the product,
both in improving its performance and also its use in
novel applications, for example the turbine mounted
application and ‘Windscanner’. [Windscanner is a system
combining three steerable ZephIR lidars providing 3-D wind
and turbulence measurements - see www.windscanner.dk for
more information].

Torben Mikkelsen, Professor in the Wind Energy Division at We very much see lidar as an essential tool for the
Risø DTU, commented in 2004 that “Lidar nowadays gives future of both the wind energy research community
rapid, reliable and accurate measurements. Notably, and the wind industry.”
the technology permits wind yields to be determined
at heights significantly above the furthest reach of the - WIND ENERGY DIVISION, Risø DTU
highest wind turbines and offers great deployment
flexibility”.

The relationship between Risø DTU and Natural Power

has flourished with much ongoing work involving the use
of ZephIR. One such example is the recent world’s first
installation of a lidar in the spinner of a wind turbine - this
particular development is detailed on the next pages under
ControlZephIR.
 ControlZephIR™ - world firsts TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION

the Incorporation of advanced wind data from ZephIR into turbine PERFORMANCE ZephIR
control systems offers owner / operators the possibility of improved Range (min.) 10 metres
Range (max.) 200 metres
energy yield and load reduction by compensating the effects of yaw
Probe length @ 10 m 0.07 metres
errors, GUSTS and strong wind shear. ZephIR was the first lidar to Probe length @ 100 m 7.70 metres
be installed on an operational turbine back in 2003. Now, natural Heights measured 5 (user configurable)
power have worked with Risø DTU to achieve the world’s first lidar Sampling rate 50Hz
Averaging period 1s upwards (user configurable)
measurements from a rotating turbine spinner / hub.
Scanning cone angle 30° (other angles available)

In September 2009 Risø DTU reported their latest results Speed accuracy* < 0.5%
Natural Power ZephIR

Natural Power ZephIR

from a fast data acquisition continuous wave (cw) wind Speed range 1 m/s to 70 m/s
lidar - ZephIR - which has been installed and operated in
Direction accuracy* < 0.5°
the rotating spinner of a large 80 m diameter, 59 m hub
height Vestas NM80 wind turbine located at Tjæreborg Enge
in western Denmark. To the best of Risø knowledge this OPERATIONS ZephIR
achieved a “World first” successful operation of a forward
Temp range (min.) -25°C
looking wind lidar integrated in the spinner of an operating
Temp range (max.) +40°C
wind turbine. This new measurement concept has allowed
Extendable range achievable
an unimpeded view of the approaching wind field, which
has been interrogated using several different scan patterns. Power consumption 100 Watts**
Information on wind speed, shear and direction has been Power input 28 V
extracted and compared to the output from an adjacent met Weight including 12 - 24h 134 kg
mast. battery back-up
ControlZephIR installed - 2009
Torben Mikkelsen, Professor at Risø DTU, reported “Our
results encourage development and integration of DATA ZephIR
continuous wave wind lidar technologies in the area 10 minute averaging 80K / day
of active turbine control and improvement of wind 3 second data 3MB / day
turbine performance. During the test period ZephIR
has shown excellent reliability and data availability
was very high throughout the 4 month measurement SAFETY ZephIR
period.” Laser classification Class 1
Eye safety standard IEC 60825-1
IP Rating IP65
Compliance Full CE accrediation

ZephIR has integral batteries providing 12 - 24 hours back-up power.

* as measured against a calibrated moving target
ControlZephIR installed - 2003
** in normal operating conditions (-13°C to +25°C)
 NATURAL POWER WORLDWIDE
Head Office Falkirk Ledbury - ZephIR Enquiries
The Green House, Forrest Estate Arnot Grange, Maggie Wood’s Loan The Old Barns, Fairoaks Farm
Dalry, Castle Douglas, DG7 3XS Falkirk, FK1 5SG Hollybush, Nr Ledbury, HR8 1EU
SCOTLAND, UK SCOTLAND, UK ENGLAND, UK

+44 (0) 1644 430 008 +44 (0) 1644 430 008 +44 (0) 1531 650 757

Wales Manchester Strasbourg

Office 9, Aberstwyth Tachnium Evans Business Centre, Lythgoe House 1rue Goethe
Y Lanfa, Aberystwyth, SY23 1AS Manchester Road, Bolton, BL3 2NZ 67000 Strasbourg
EUROPE

WALES, UK ENGLAND, UK FRANCE

+44 (0) 1970 636 869 +44 (0) 1644 430 008 +33 (0) 388 141 600

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AMERICA

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