ZephIR

wind lidar

300

yourwindlidar.com

product innovations

natural power

ZephIR

300

remote wind profiling across 10 user defined heights from 10 metres to 200 metres proven extreme operation from -40C to +50C across 450 lidar deployments globally installed in just 7 days* from order at your wind energy project site 24hr technical support with local service 2 engineers across Europe, North America, South America and Asia Pacific industry-recognised validations including IEC equivalent power performance measurements, extensive onshore / offshore campaigns and tall met mast verifications true Class 1 laser eye safety certification, and EMC accreditation for EN55022 Class A, EN61 326 Industrial, FCC Radiated & Conducted Emissions IP67 rated enclosure sealed against moisture and ingress
* dependent on transportation time from the UK and system availability

this is your wind project this is your investment risk this is your wind lidar

designed by wind engineers for wind engineers

NEW FEATURES
automotive wiper system with 10 year design life for longevity

PROVEN PERFORMANCE
Wind speed, direction and turbulence at 10 user-configurable measurement heights from 10 to 200 metres, onshore and offshore. Extended range up to 300 metres.

ruggedised outer casing with thermal insulation for all weather operation from -40C to +50C

Banks Engineer approved performance validation process across all systems including correlations against the UKs Lidar & Sodar Test Site

Over 450 deployments in more than 25 countries worldwide and 1,000s of operating hours on independent validation studies

6 years field experience including communications, security solutions, transportation logistics, power solutions and technical customer support

quick-release levelling system suited to rugged terrain and 15 inclines

embedded go-anywhere-SIM and advanced satellite comms package available

all-terrain feet suitable from sand to concrete

INDEPENDENT CORRELATIONS
BANkS ENGINEER GL GARRAD HASSAN HAVE WORkED WITH US IN DEFINING THE PRINCIPLES OF OUR VALIDATION PROCESS FOR ALL NEW SYSTEMS PROVIDING THE NECESSARY TRACEABILITY - A kEY ELEMENT OF FORMAL ENERGY PREDICTION REPORTS USED BY THE FINANCIAL COMMUNITY.
Before shipping, each ZephIR 300 undergoes several stages of rigorous checks, also repeated as part of the routine maintenance whenever a unit returns to base. Each ZephIR undergoes an outdoor test to measure wind speed side-by-side against a Reference Unit that has been validated against several tall masts including Riss Hvsre test site and a 1 93m met mast in the US. In addition Natural Power has established the UKs first lidar and sodar test site so that ZephIR 300 can also be delivered with either a Natural Power or GL Garrad Hassan validation report against the calibrated 90m met mast featuring calibrated Ris cups and Vector 100L cups based at 20m, 45m, 70m and 90m, a pressure sensor logger at 6m and a temperature sensor mounted at 80m.

THE OF CONTINUOUS-WAVE LIDAR

A B C

AVAILABILITY AT ALL HEIGHTS ZephIRs sensitivity remains constant at all heights ensuring high data availability in all conditions. The emitted laser beam is focussed at each user-configured height - the laser power does not change at each height or with range and so the sensitivity does not degrade. This sensitivity ensures ZephIR 300 has extremely high data availability at higher heights. We always considered that in developing a wind measuring system it would be a significant compromise to data integrity were there to be varying availability of data across the heights of interest. Wind engineers need to measure full and reliable shear profiles. Should the availability vary with heights, it essentially reduces the worth of the system to that of the weakest measurement height.

BASELINE MEASUREMENTS - 10 METRES ZephIR 300 has been tailored to provide highly accurate measurements across the entire rotor diameter and beyond - from 200 metres down to just 10 metres. Work has also been undertaken to demonstrate an extended 300m range and is part of an ongoing development programme. At lower heights, where wind shear typically changes more rapidly, ZephIR 300s optical design ensures that at these crucial heights, probe length (effective sample length) can be as small as just 7 cm.

COMPLEX TERRAIN REQUIRES HIGH SAMPLE RATE ZephIR 300 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. This high sample rate has allowed us to use Natural Powers dynamics - a complex flow conversion tool to give greater confidence in complex flow sites. dynamics is an on-line tool that first quantifies your site in terms of complexity and then provides you with a conversion factor to apply to your ZephIR data should you have a need to simulate what a single point cup anemometer would see at the measurement location. This can still be desirable, even though it has been demonstrated that by moving a fixed mast mounted cup anemometer in complex terrain by just a few tens of meters, significant percentage points of difference can be seen in the measured wind speeds.

The four plots above show comparisons between ZephIR and the met mast situated at Natural Powers test site during 2010. Excellent agreement between mast and ZephIR is maintained at all heights with less than a one percent difference in the gradients and R2 values extremely close to the optimum value of 1.0.

Site assessment, prospecting and turbine micro-siting

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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. 8
Meridian purchased one of the first production ZephIR systems back in 2005 and followed this by purchasing a second system in 2008. Paul Botha, Wind Technical Consultant at Meridian, explains how ZephIR is used across sites in New Zealand. Our ZephIRs are extremely valuable in measuring from short masts at around 30m up to 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. 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. Dougal McQueen, Research Associate at Meridian, has much field deployment experience having operated ZephIRs 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 casings 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.

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our solutions

1. 2. 3.

Mobility around sites and ease of deployment All terrain levelling system for inclines and soft terrain Availability at all heights, across the entire rotor disk and beyond

Extreme flow conditions

ONE OF THE LEADING DEVELOPERS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY, MAINSTREAM RENEWABLE POWER, HAS COMPLETED THE FIRST EXTENSIVE WIND ASSESSMENT CAMPAIGN IN LATIN AMERICA USING NATURAL POWERS ZEPHIR LIDAR WHICH, BASED AT GROUND LEVEL, PROVIDES REMOTE WIND MEASUREMENTS FROM 10 METRES TO 200 METRES TO AID IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW WIND FARM SITES.

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The deployment was in the challenging terrain of the Atacama Desert - II Region - a virtually rainless plateau covering a 600 mile strip of land on the Pacific Coast of South America. Temperatures can rise to an extreme of over 40 C during the day and drop to -10 C after sunset. It is these thermal effects that are of interest to Mainstream due to the effect on wind shear in the area, provoked through Katabatic winds at night time, whilst the hot desert ground during the day leads to convectional forced vertical wind components and turbulence. Traditional anemometry such as tall masts and cup anemometers, providing wind data up to 80m above ground, were not appropriate as the sole measurements in this case due to their limited height.

Mainstream looked at a range of remote sensing technologies before selecting Natural Powers ZephIR lidar as Shane Martin, Senior Wind Analyst at Mainstreams main office in Santiago in Chile commented: We were very interested in exploring the impact of these thermal effects on wind shear but were unable to use tall met masts to see the effects above hub height. Natural Powers team in Valparaiso were able to assist us in providing a ZephIR lidar for the campaign and the system was on site within a matter of days, measuring wind characteristics from ground level through to turbine tip height, and above. The campaign was completed successfully and the ZephIR lidar allowed Mainstream to gather all quantitative data necessary for the evaluation of the project.

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our solutions

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Single system, all weather operation - no add ons or extra power draw Deployments at remote sites within 7 days from order Accurate wind data at heights above traditional anemometry such as met masts

Power curve assessment

EDF ENERGIES NOUVELLES (EDF EN), A LEADING INTERNATIONAL OWNER AND OPERATOR OF WIND ENERGY PROjECTS, HAS COMPLETED AN EXTENSIVE WIND ASSESSMENT STUDY TO COMPARE THE PERFORMANCE OF ZEPHIR AGAINST TRADITIONAL CUP ANEMOMETERS, WITH RESULTS FROM THE FRENCH TEST SITE CONCLUDING THAT THE ZEPHIR AND MAST DATA WERE IN EXTREMELY GOOD AGREEMENT. 12 13

The research took place at the Chemin dAblis operational wind farm and compared data captured from an 80 metre International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard compliant power-performance mast equipped with cupanemometers, against ZephIR. Detailed comparisons of data were undertaken, including wind speed, direction, shear and turbulence, during a 5 week period for two of the 26 REpower MM92/2000 wind turbines on site. Analysis confirmed that the two sets of measurement demonstrated excellent agreement; the wind speed correlation plots show gradients within 2% of unity for each cup tested. The corresponding correlation coefficients were in the range of 0.97 to 0.98. Crucially, the study also found ZephIR gave an almost identical power curve reading to the cup anemometers, both of which fitted well around the power curves provided by the manufacturer.

The IEC is a global organisation that prepares and publishes standardisation for all electrical, electronic and related technologies, as well as managing conformity assessment systems that certify that equipment, systems or components conform to its International Standards. The Chemin dAblis wind farm site is instrumented in accordance to IEC 61 400-1 which standardises the power performance 2 measurements of electricity-producing wind turbines.

our solutions

1. 2. 3.

Measurements accurate to IEC equivalent standards Availability at all heights, across the entire rotor disk and beyond Global field engineer network for local installations and support

Permanent wind farm anemometry and analysis

E.ONS CLIMATE & RENEWABLES OPERATIONS TEAM HAVE DEPLOYED ZEPHIR AS PART OF A METEOROLOGICAL FORECASTING SYSTEM FEEDING LIVE WIND DATA FOR USE BY SPECIALIST METEOROLOGICAL ORGANISATIONS TO OPTIMISE POWER FORECASTING TOOLS, CORRELATE WEATHER PATTERNS AND ENSURE THE SAFE ORGANISATION OF MAINTENANCE TEAMS WORkING ACROSS THE WIND FARM.

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The project sees ZephIR deployed 1 2km out to sea on one of the Robin Rigg 1 32kV Offshore Substation Structures. A new communications interface developed by Natural Power for ZephIR has been jointly tested by Natural Power and E.ON enabling live data from the ZephIR to be collected by an E.ON Data Server. Robin Rigg Offshore Wind Farm is located in the Solway Firth off the coast of North Cumbria, UK with a total site capacity of 1 80MW (60 x 3MW Vestas V90 turbines).

Colin Hodgkins, C&I Engineer at E.ON, commented on the success of the project so far: Natural Power have provided us with a flexible wind resource tool E.ON and Natural Power worked closely together to test the data streaming interface onshore before shipping the ZephIR to the offshore substation. I am very pleased to say that the interface tested successfully first time and we are now keen to take this live data into our data systems in order to make big steps forward in both meteorological forecasting to enhance power production and operational planning for the site. This deployment is just one example of a number of special projects currently being developed by Natural Powers ZephIR team who are pioneering the use of lidar in the wind industry across a range of applications such as ground based, offshore and turbine mounted.

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our solutions

1. 2. 3.

Data streaming interface providing live wind data integration Single solution for onshore and offshore deployments with no add-ons or increase in power draw World class lidar team providing special engineering projects when required

Complex site analysis

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 TECHNOLOGICAL CENTRES, INSTITUTIONS AND COMPANIES. 16
During 2009 and 2010 the Wind energy Department of CENER is developing an experimental test site in complex terrain in the north of Spain, for the testing of multi-megawatt wind turbines, up to 120m hub height. 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. CENERs 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. 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 CENERs tasks in this project is to investigate the benefits of new measurement techniques (remote sensing) for resource assessment and forecasting purposes. 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 measurement according to IEC 61400-12-1, and in parallel used the ZephIR lidar data to provide wind profile information, in order to obtain a better understanding of the wind conditions across the rotor area, and study its effect on power production.

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our solutions

1. 2. 3.

High sample rate (50Hz) for rapidly changing wind flow Availability at all heights, across the entire rotor disk and beyond All terrain levelling system for inclines and soft terrain

Image courtesy and copyright of CENER

Offshore campaigns

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 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 ZephIR has successfully gathered data on the station for a full 1 months. 2 The platform has been managed by GL WINDTEST - the worlds 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 than 50% of all certifications. GL WINDTEST has been providing 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 Natural Powers 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. 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 its reliability and suitability in such challenging conditions. Kindler also commented that with more than 3 years of operating ZephIRs 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.

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collected will play an important role in pre-engineering the project and identifying optimal siting of wind turbine locations.

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our solutions

1. 2. 3.

Single solution for onshore and offshore deployments with no add-ons or increase in power draw Proven reliability on extensive resource measurement campaigns Baseline measurements at just 10 metres from installed height, essential on raised platforms

ZephIR provides

ACCURATE
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ZephIR 300 provides highly accurate measurements across the entire rotor diameter and beyond - from 200 metres down to just 10 metres from ground level. At lower heights, where wind shear typically changes more rapidly, ZephIR 300s optical design ensures that at these crucial heights, probe length (effective sample length) can be as small as just 7 cm.

RELIABLE AFFORDABLE

ZephIR 300 features a twin-skinned custom-tooled rotational moulded pod with foam insulation. All connectors are IP67 rated as is the pod itself. Moving components within ZephIR have been through Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT) and are proven to out-perform the service intervals of 1 months. 8

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ZephIR has a proven 6 year design life, and that period is growing year on year as we are yet to decommission a unit from the field due to catastrophic failure. Amortising the purchase price of ZephIR across the design life creates an affordable alternative to tall met masts. For short term deployments we offer a unique rental fleet and managed service from installation, data collection to QCd data delivery.

your wind lidar

vuWind managed wind data service

vuWind provides you with data on demand, both real-time and historic from met masts and wind lidars to sonics and sodars our secure servers are accessible 24/7 no matter where you are just log in through our web portal, download qualified datasets and view your monthly reports or even get email notifications when youre away from the office

SIMPLE | AUTOMATED | SECURE

DATA STREAMS vuWind data can be collected from a number of sources: Via email Any communication system for example GPRS, GSM, 3G, CDMA and Iridium Over the internet for example FTP, http and sftp

data collection via device e.g. mast, lidar, sodar

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DATA STORAGE AND SECURITY All vuWind data is handled in a robust, secure method and features: Storage in an SQL database Replication and synchronization of the database Access provided only through a RSA security portal Original data is never modified - a history of all modifications to the original dataset is stored Audit trail of each instrument is logged e.g. deployment details, maintenance records Asset management of equipment moving between sites

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data transmission to vuWind secure database

data quality checks - both automatic and manual

DATA CHECkING AND VALIDATION Experienced wind engineers within Natural Powers technical team based across North America, South America and Europe apply their extensive knowledge to the data gathered and presented through vuWind: Datasets are automatically screened to detect connection loss, incoherent values and flat-lining Datasets are regularly checked manually at Natural Powers WindCentre - our 24/7 independent operational control room Choose to be notified by email or by phone as soon as any issues are detected

data on demand available through vuWind web portal

monthly reports issued by Natural Power wind engineering team

dynamics complex flow calibration

Through the application of VENTOS, one of the best validated Computational Fluid Dynamics codes in the industry, and through testing on a range of sites across Europe, we have developed dynamics - an online calibration tool allowing ZephIR to be used with confidence in complex flow environments such as mountainous sites. dynamics puts the benefits of Natural Powers experience in CFD modelling at your fingertips without any need for extensive training or investment in CFD software. VENTOS provides state-of-the art flow computations in complex and forested terrain. 24 It enables accurate quantification of turbulence intensity, wind shear, inflow angle, wind speed and veer over complex sites. VENTOS also enables time-dependant computations when necessary. Our dedicated CFD engineers translate results of computations into recommendations on turbine locations and their ongoing management. To derive CFD flow modelling results that you can trust is a task that requires the right tools combined with specific expertise and experience. Our fluid mechanic engineers have successfully applied and validated VENTOS on more than 4GW of client wind energy projects worldwide. Natural Power have also developed a simple applet that enables you to find out whether your site requires CFD based on topography and land cover. If you have a kmz file including your turbine coordinates within just a few clicks you can know whether your site might require CFD. To find out more visit www.naturalpower.com/VENTOS 25

Natural Power is a leading international renewable energy consultancy. Having consented over 2GW of client projects, provided more than 25GW of technical services and managing wind farms both locally and remotely we are uniquely positioned to understand both wind engineering and the quality of wind data required on projects. We recommend the use of ZephIR lidar on wind energy projects, from site prospecting to turbine micro-siting and from power curve measurements to operational wind farm analysis. Our global headquarters are based in Scotland and we have a further 1 offices 2 worldwide. Our successes include: Over 220 renewable energy experts 26 Construction management on 450MW of wind plant Ongoing operational services on more than 20 wind farms 25GW due diligence / resource assessment services 2100MW of client projects permitted (800MW onshore / 1300MW offshore)

notes ....................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................

850mm
PERFORMANCE Range (min.) Range (max.) Extended range Probe length @ 10 m Probe length @ 100 m Heights measured Sampling rate Averaging period Scanning cone angle

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ZephIR 10 metres 200 metres 300 metres 0.07 metres 7.70 metres 10 (user configurable) 50Hz 1 second upwards (user configurable) 30 (other angles available) < 0.5% < 1 m/s to 70 m/s < 0.5

Speed accuracy** Speed range Direction accuracy

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OPERATIONS Temp range (min.) Temp range (max.) Power consumption Power input DC Weight

ZephIR -40C +50C 69 Watts 1 V 2 55 kg

DATA 10 minute averaged data 3 second data

ZephIR 80K / day 3MB / day

SAFETY Laser classification Eye safety standard IP Rating EMC compliance

ZephIR Class 1 IEC 60825-1 IP67 (excl. external fans) EN55022 Class A, EN61 326 Industrial, FCC Radiated & Conducted Emissions

natural power

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** as measured against a calibrated moving target

product innovations

natural power

for more information visit yourwindlidar.com