ESFRI Preparitory Phase Project (2012-2015)

The European WindScanner Facility was included in the ESFRI Roadmap renewable energy update on research infrastructures (RIs) in 2010 as a top European priority, hence recognizing the scientific and strategic European added value of the facility. At national level the project is also included in the Danish Roadmap for RIs 2011. In order to ensure the technical, organizational and financial maturity the initiative has now received funding from the European Commission for a three-year research infrastructure preparatory phase (RI PP).

The objective of the Preparatory Phase (PP) project is to make timely preparation of the administrative, legal, financial and technical issues necessary for the establishment and operation of “WindScanner.eu – the European WindScanner Facility. The “WindScanner Facility” is a distributed RI that will be established throughout Europe by the end of the PP in 2015, will be ready for construction ultimo 2015 and will start operation in 2016.

It is a unique new innovative remote sensing-based research facility that will provide fundamentally new knowledge about the detailed three-dimensional atmospheric wind flow and turbulence. This knowledge will lead to more efficient, stronger, smarter and lighter wind turbines. The new facility will be designed and projected to become a new world-class center of excellence embedded within organizations and research partners from leading European research, education and innovation organizations.

The WINDSCANNER PP project will address coordinated European development of the facility in a joint technological and economically substantial European approach. The operational WINDSCANNER facility will be designed. The present PP project will address all relevant issues necessary to reach to a pan-European prototype dissemination and start of construction phase for the WindScanner.eu Facility. The specific objectives of the Preparatory Phase project are:

• To set-up the Management and logistical structures, i.e. plans for the establishment and operation of the RI, planning of staff recruitment to establish and operate the new facility; and develop the organization of the logistic support for users etc.

• To fully develop and agree on the Governance structure, i.e. management structure, procedure for decision-making, access rules for researchers, etc.

• To develop the financial scheme for the establishment and operation of the facility, including planning of financial commitments from national contributors, and possibly EU instruments (incl. the Structural Funds or the EIB) and drafting of an investment plan.

• To develop and agree on the legal framework necessary for the establishment and operation of the facility. The objective is to have the relevant legal documents “ready to sign” before the end of the project.

• To address strategic issues of importance in relation to the “outside world” of the facility, i.e. the identification of the best possible site(s) to set up the new facility (hub and nodes) and how these will contribute to creating or consolidating the centers of excellence and provide socio-economic impact.

• To draft the scientific and technological work needed in order to establish an operational RI facility based on innovative three-dimensional remote sensing wind scanners, i.e. establishing the draft engineering plans, including tested prototypes for the WindScanners.

• To jointly plan the implementation steps for the disseminated regional WindScanner facilities to be realized.

• To jointly achieve best practice and scientific exploitation of the regional distributed WindScanner facilities, including training, development of databases, measurement experiences and data exchange, joint software development, etc.

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