The EIT’s Innovators Award was presented to the Spanish company EOLOS Floating Lidar Solutions for reducing costs for offshore wind measurements. EOLOS FLS200, the promising new floating platform, features the innovative wind lidar solution ZephIR 300. The platform was built to deliver accurate metocean data for offshore wind farm planning, development and operation at a fraction of the cost of traditional offshore met masts. EOLOS and ZephIR are currently on trial at ECN’s Ijmuiden offshore met mast. Early performance tests meet all the KPIs within the Carbon Trust Roadmap for commercial acceptance of floating wind LiDAR.
Rajai Aghabi, Founder of EOLOS Floating Lidar Solutions, says: “We are very pleased that EOLOS has been recognised for its innovation in advancing sustainable growth and competitiveness in the field of sustainable energy. Since starting this project, it has been my utmost desire to ensure that this business embodies these core blocks. With the support from ZephIR LiDAR we will deliver a truly innovative product to the field of offshore wind energy.” The Barcelona-based business was set up after founder Rajai Aghabi had identified a real need to develop a more cost-effective way to measure wind speed at prospective off-shore sites for wind farms. The business was selected by KIC InnoEnergy to participate in their Highway® Business Creation programme, which provides tailored support, funding and access to partners across the European energy eco-system. EOLOS selected ZephIR 300 wind LiDAR for this project due to its high-resolution wind data collected by continuous wave LiDAR, unique to ZephIR, and its ability to operate for extended periods of time offshore with no need for annual servicing or re-calibration within warranty periods.