The Turkish government's recent issue of long-delayed wind farm licenses has unleashed pent-up demand for wind data that Second Wind and Turkish renewable energy consultancy Enisolar are poised to meet head on. The two companies have reached an agreement for Enisolar to sell and service Second Wind Triton® Sonic Wind Profilers in the Turkish market, providing developers with the critical high-height data they need to secure financing for previously stalled projects.

Access to Tritons will enable Turkish wind farm developers to measure winds across the entire rotor blade sweep, providing a more complete view of wind resources than the current sets of lower-height data. Enisolar has started building a Triton rental fleet to service the Turkish marketplace. The first unit is scheduled to arrive in Turkey in early June and be immediately deployed with a major wind developer at a site near Ankara. Developers will be able to view data from Triton and other wind measurement technologies in near-real-time through Second Wind’s SkyServe online wind data service. The data will enable faster progress toward the Turkish government’s goal of 20,000 megawatts of installed wind power capacity by 2023.


“In March, the Turkish government issued a large number of licenses that had been held up for years. Because investors would not proceed on the 40- to 50-meter data they had been gathering previously, this created a great need for wind measurement data for the full extent of the rotor sweep,” said Enis Fakioglu, Enisolar managing director. “Triton’s portability and ease of setup are huge assets in a situation like this. Developers can cover much more ground by moving Triton units around their sites and between sites and not relying on meteorological towers exclusively. Together, the two data streams will provide the information investors need to finance projects and move Turkey toward its wind power production goals.”

Triton is an advanced remote sensing system that uses sodar (sound detection and ranging) technology to measure wind in the areas that most affect a wind turbine’s performance. By measuring wind speeds at the turbine rotor's hub height and beyond, Triton reduces uncertainty in annual energy production (AEP) forecasts. Easy to install and capable of autonomous operation, Tritons are being used throughout the wind industry, alone or in conjunction with met towers, to streamline the wind farm development process and to improve wind farm operations.

“Enisolar is one of the premier names in renewable energy in the Turkish market, and has been a significant force in the country’s wind power development since 2008, when the country’s installed wind power capacity tripled,” said Second Wind Director of European Sales Jason Wood. “We anticipate the data we provide will help fuel the market’s steady progress toward the government’s ambitious wind power goals.”

Enisolar will have a Triton on display at their booth at the 17th International Energy and Environmental Fair and Conference (ICCI) in Istanbul between 15 and 17 June 2011.