This project explores the use of Lidars for airborne wind energy systems (AWESs). Kitemill is one of the leading companies that develop AWESs and is a close partner for this PhD project. AWESs use tethered kites to access the wind resource at several hundred meters altitude. In this PhD project, the wind profile is measured up to a height of 1500 m in parallel to test flights with Kitemill’s AWES. Thereby, the measured wind profile can be related to the current power production.
By measuring the wind profile at the AWES test site in Southern Norway for about a year, statistical analyses can be carried out to create a wind resource assessment of the site for AWESs and compare it to conventional turbines. In all of these evaluations, special attention will be paid to the role Lidar devices can play in the future development and deployment of AWESs, including business cases that investigate the value of on site measurements for planning and operating AWESs.
A further goal is to provide a meteorological investigation of the wind conditions of the planetary boundary layer by using the Lidar data, as well as forecast and reanalysis data. By reaching up to a height of 1500 m, it is possible to investigate the upper planetary boundary layer for which only very few measurements have been carried out so far.