Innovative power solution for remote locations

25 May 2010

With sunlight at a premium during winter months and average temperatures falling below zero degrees for five months of the year, the north of Sweden represents a particularly challenging environment for wind farm development. A fundamental problem associated with conducting a wind monitoring campaign in these climes is loss of data resulting from frozen instrumentation. Heated anemometry is often used to mitigate these risks but this creates an additional challenge of increased power requirement.

SgurrEnergy was commissioned by leading developer SSE Renewables to design an autonomous power system capable of providing a reliable source of power to their met masts located in remote areas lacking grid connection.

Adam Spearey, Renewable Energy Consultancy at SgurrEnergy (pictured left) explained, “Creating this innovative solution was an enjoyable challenge.  We used specialist software to design stand-alone renewable energy systems capable of meeting the power requirement of the masts taking into account the challenging environmental conditions. Two hybrid renewable energy systems were designed and specified comprising wind turbine generators, solar panels, charge controllers, battery bank and enclosure.”

Jenny Longworth, Wind Analyst at SSE commented, “SgurrEnergy provided an excellent solution to a real challenge we face here in Sweden.  The autonomous power systems have now been deployed alongside two mast installations and are performing well.”

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