Swedish airline Saab and Danish company Ørsted, known for their global work on renewables, have tested a marine radar concept using an AESA Giraffe 1X 3D radar system at the world’s largest operating offshore wind farm, Hornsea 1, 120 kilometers east of the Yorkshire coast, in the waters of United Kingdom, during September and October 2021.
Tests performed with satisfactory results, It was remotely managed from Sweden and supervised by Saab from Denmark. Ørsted, Royal Danish Air Force and British Air Traffic Controller NATS.
The goal was to mitigate the overlap of offshore wind farms in the recognized atmospheric and offshore picture, as well as to validate performance in the coastal and offshore environment with criteria such as extreme weather conditions and highest wind speeds.
There is a significant expansion of national energy infrastructures not only in Europe, But all over the world. Offshore wind is expected to be a major source of electricity in Europe, heading towards net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
This will require rapid expansion of wind farms, which will have a significant impact on the coastal and marine environment, on a scale not seen before, and therefore important to protect. This can be seen as a vital step towards the renewable energy capacity of Enabling the transition to a fossil-free society.
To manage and ensure the expansion of large infrastructure commitments, it is necessary Finding a solution to the coexistence between air defense and offshore wind energy. This is necessary to ensure that nations around the world can maintain their own air defense and early warning capabilities while harnessing the full potential of offshore winds and protecting their nations’ security interests.
Promising environment for 1X giraffe
Monitoring and early warning of a country’s airspace is critical for countries to protect their citizens and critical infrastructure from airborne threats. Long-range air defense radars have been located for decades in land locations, on high ground with an unobstructed view of the sea to better assess threats.
Radars like the Giraffe 4A scan massive amounts of airspace every day, 24 hours a day and detect threats and air anomalies. In the past decade, the impact of offshore wind turbines on air defense early warning radars has also been recognized.
Offshore turbines are large, multiple and mobile. Each blade is approximately 70 to 100 meters long, and wind turbine blades may be longer in the future. the East Radar picks up blade movement and creates unwanted interference. Low performance and noise on radar screens. Offshore wind farms are increasingly moving away from the coast and the curvature of the Earth remains true as the marine environment and activities change.
Great use of small size
3D marine high precision short to medium range radar can be a flexible and affordable solution, Giraffe 1X is a combination of operational flexibility, multi-tasking capability and multi-purpose use to simultaneously track up to 600 air and other targets. The system also provides a low, slow and small type (ELSS) air target detection function. This technology and application enables and complements knowledge of the situation in and around offshore wind farms and beyond the radar horizon for long-range ground radars.
however, Offshore wind farms not only generate energy, but increasingly also demand the activities of ships, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), necessary for the construction, operation and maintenance of these wind farms. These activities must be supervised for the safe operation of the marine infrastructure, in particular to support the search and rescue services in their missions.
Defensive coexistence and offshore wind
The promising cooperation between Saab and Ørsted is a pioneer in the field of mutual coexistence. Test results with Giraffe 1X on the world’s largest offshore wind farm will be shared by both partners with relevant government stakeholders in the next phase.
The goal is for the authorities to accept marine areas and specific projects. In addition, a unified approach will be developed to ensure the long-term coexistence of defense and offshore wind.
All this contributes to the further development of the knowledge and competency base about the realistic requirements of offshore wind farms and their understanding of the situation among government entities, including the armed forces.
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