Windar Photonics' Lidar integrated into Eleon turbine

Windar Photonics plc (LON:WPHO), a maker of Lidar sensors for wind turbines, today said its technology will be part of the Eleon 3.4M-118 wind turbine of Estonian wind turbine manufacturer Eleon AS.

Windar has installed and tested one of its WindVision Lidar units on a Eleon turbine at the 100-MW Aidu wind farm in Estonia, which is due to be completed by 2018 and will feature 30 Eleon 3.4-MW turbines. Windar, which has worked with Eleon since 2013, said this was the first direct integration between a Lidar wind sensor and the control system of a wind turbine at the design stage.

"The direct integration of Windar's LIDAR technology into a new turbine, which is expected to be sold internationally for a number of years to come, represents a new era for our technology," commented Windar chief executive Martin Rambusch. The company hopes that more wind turbine manufacturers will integrate its technology into their turbines.

The WindVision will be part of the standard anemometry of the Eleon 3.4M-118 turbine. The device provides forward looking wind speed and wind direction information, which allows the turbine to minimise damaging loads in challenging conditions and improve its performance in normal conditions.

Windar also said it has received two additional orders for three WindVision units each from two top 10 wind turbine manufacturers. Both orders for projects focused on wind turbine optimisation.

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