Consortium as a whole

Until a short time before the start of WindScanner PP, wind measurements for wind energy research and development were based on wind data obtained from a few point measurements in a met masts, e.g. in the form of wind measurements from a few fixed vertical levels in a tall met tower. Breakthroughs within optical based telecom equipment at the turn of the Millennium, however, have provided fast developments regarding optical laser-based remote sensing technologies and laser- based wind lidars. At national research centers in Denmark and Germany, in particular, further developments have been ongoing to provide laser-based wind scanners for wind energy research and services for the fast growing wind industry. Up until the ESFRI Roadmap Update of November 2010, the research and development of remote sensing methodologies for wind energy has been developed primarily at national level, particular in Denmark and in Germany, cf. the Danish ongoing national RI WindScanner.dk and a German Multi lidar activity headed by Uni Stuttgart and Uni Oldenburg. In addition, several EERA Wind partners have been working with new commercial available laser-based wind profilers. WindScanner PP seeks to coordinate and to turn these many national RI activities in remote wind sensing into a single new cohesive pan-European RI.

All the partners in the Consortium, except IPU, are members of the EERA Joint Programme on Wind Energy. The EERA has as a key purpose to elevate cooperation between national research organizations to a new level, from ad-hoc participation in joint projects to collectively planning and implementing joint strategic research programmes. The EERA Joint Programme on Wind Energy brings together Europe’s premier organizations in the field of wind power research. The Joint Programme on Wind Energy outlines the medium to long-term research needed to underpin the industrial demonstration and deployment agenda.

The WindScanner Facility underpins the EERA joint programme on wind energy. The focus is on establishing a pan-European RI that fosters the evolution of the scientific basis and creates new technological opportunities for the Wind Sector. The strategic objective of the European Industrial initiative on wind energy, notably is to improve the competitiveness of wind energy technologies, to enable the exploitation of the offshore resource and deep waters potential, and to facilitate grid integration of wind power. The EERA partners involved in WindScanner PP have a long history of successful collaboration in EU funded and other research projects. They all have test facilities and experience with remote sensing measurement methodologies, hands-on experience with wind lidars applied over different terrain and offshore. As a Consortium these EERA partners and their sum of national competences and existing infrastructures (cf. the individual partners descriptions) cover most aspects of the envisioned research and innovation aspects for future Wind Energy.

All partners have good industrial contacts via TPWind and through the membership of the European Academy for Wind Energy (EAWE) there is also a substantial experience in collaborating on education. Thus relations to academia and education, as well as to the European industry, are already established. In countries were more than one partner is involved it is foreseen to establish national nodes. It is expected that in several of the countries currently involved additional organizations will be embraced in WindScanner PP and national nodes will be established. Some of these organizations already have strong collaboration with the partners in this project and they will get implicated, but not as beneficiaries of the Grant Agreement. The EERA partners' and participants' collective sum of already established Wind Lidar Wind Scanners and Multi-Lidar measurement methodologies based remote sensing equipment represent significant innovation already developed nationally in parallel among the EERA partners, during the 3-4 years preceding WindScanner PP. In Denmark and Germany, in particular, embedded innovation and know-how with scanning lidar systems have today already contributed significantly to existing scientific and technological platforms that are the grounds of the new pan-European WindScanner.eu facility.

BACK