Fulcrum3D has been working with internationally renowned wind energy experts GL GH to confirm the performance of the Fulcrum3D Sodar.

The first part of this test regime includes assessment of in-field measurement adjacent to an 84.5m test tower in Victoria, Australia. The test site lies on flat pasture of elevation around 415 m above sea level, and the surrounding terrain is of a similar elevation and is mostly agricultural land with areas of forest and bush around 2-6 km from the mast.

Fulcrum3D (F3D) has instructed Garrad Hassan Pacific Pty Ltd to carry out an independent assessment of the data collected by a Fulcrum3D Sodar device installed at the site with the aim of validating the Fulcrum3D Sodar measurements against cup anemometers on a tall meteorological mast.

Garrad Hassan have now completed their initial investigations and, in doing so, given their in principle support for the performance of the Fulcrum3D Sodar:

• These results show that the Sodar device is measuring wind speed to an acceptable degree of accuracy. The correlation between the wind speed measurements was found to be of sufficient quality with a coefficient of determination, R2 of 0.96. This R2 value shows that the Sodar is measuring wind speeds with acceptable precision compared to the mast and an acceptable level of scatter is seen in the correlation plots.
• It has been concluded that this brief statistical analysis is indicative of an acceptable level of accuracy (a measurable bias) and precision (acceptable standard error) for the wind speed measured by the Fulcrum3D Sodar and cup anemometers.
•  The mast and Sodar wind shear profiles were found to be in broad agreement over the range of heights measured by the mast for the global, day and night profiles.

In addition to the prototype which has been undergoing in-field tests for the last two years, Fulcrum3D now has three commercial Fulcrum3D Sodar units operating in the field in NSW, Vic, WA.  Serial production has now commenced, with six units currently under construction in its northern Sydney factory.

Further validation work is ongoing, and ongoing updates will be made available as each phase of this work completes. Please contact Hugh Sangster on h.sangster@fulcrum3d.com for further details.