At EWEA 2014 Annual Event, the most important European trade fair for the wind energy sector, the SOPCAWIND software tool, which simplifies the design of wind farms, was presented. The Signal Processing and Radiocommunications (TSR) group from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) participated in this project.
The development of a wind farm is a process that requires considering several factors. “The fundamental parameter is the wind, or wind potential. Another very important factor is the terrain's topography,” explains David de la Vega, a member of the Signal Processing and Radiocommunications (TSR) research group. “In addition to these two main factors, environmental considerations are also important, as well as others that may be less obvious, such as telecommunications services (weather radar, air traffic control radar, radionavigation aid systems, television, data links, etc.),” adds de la Vega.
In many cases the telecommunications service is not located next to the park and "although interference situations are not common, a wind farm can alter the signal of a radar that is about 10-20 kilometers away," emphasizes the researcher from the Signal Treatment and Radiocommunications (TSR) group.
The UPV/EHU group is participating in the development of the tool to design wind farms taking into account not only aspects of energy productivity, but also the possible impact it may have on the environment, radars or other telecommunications systems.
Through field measurements, the research group has characterized the signal scattered by wind turbines in the UHF band and evaluated its influence on television signal quality. The results have been presented to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the international telecommunications regulatory body, and have been included in the process of drafting a new recommendation. Should this process be successful, the results of the research conducted at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) would become part of international regulations on this matter.
Impact studies
SOPCAWIND is the first software tool that integrates a complex, multidisciplinary database and algorithms into a single application. With all these features, the tool simplifies the wind farm developer's design process and ensures that all necessary aspects are considered.
“Thanks to this tool, on the one hand, the wind farm design process is much smoother, and on the other hand, a fundamental aspect, the developer knows in advance if there is an impact, and can include modifications in the wind farm to avoid it,” says David de la Vega.
The Signal Processing and Radiocommunications group at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) has contributed primarily with the algorithms that allow for the evaluation of the potential impact on radars, air navigation aids, and other telecommunications systems. “We have developed the algorithms to determine the impact of wind farms on telecommunications systems (TV, data radio links, radars, and air navigation aids) and have integrated them into the tool,” explains de la Vega.
“These impact studies, because they are carried out before the installation of the wind farm, allow us to detect any potential interference, so the wind farm developer can make modifications to the design to avoid such an impact,” de la Vega points out. In this way, the impact studies allow the development of wind energy without degrading existing telecommunications services.
The SOPCAWIND project has been supported by the European Union within the FP7 program and has been developed by a European consortium, made up of Tecnalia, UPV/EHU, GeoX (Hungary), 3E (Belgium), Anemos (Germany) and Eurohelp (Spain).
Bibliographic reference
I. Angulo, D. de la Vega, I. Cascón, J. Cañizo, Y. Wu, D. Guerra, P. Angueira. “Impact analysis of wind farms on telecommunication services”. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 32: 84-99. (2014). DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2013.12.055
Source: SINC
