Masdar Power and Masdar Institute of Science and Technology have each chosen industry leading ZephIR technology to provide wind measurements in challenging desert conditions in Abu Dhabi.

The two ZephIR 300 systems will be used to produce high resolution wind resource maps for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) while assisting a number of partner developing countries in the assessment of their wind energy resources.

Masdar Power is a developer and operator of renewable power generation projects and Masdar Institute of Science and Technology is an independent, research-driven graduate-level institute focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, developed with the ongoing support and co-operation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Both are based in Masdar City - a futuristic community which when complete, will rely entirely on solar energy and other renewable energy sources, with a fully sustainable, zero-carbon, zero-waste ecology.

One of the ZephIR 300 systems will be placed with the Hydro-Climate Modelling Lab and the Research Center for Renewable Energy Mapping and Assessment at Masdar Institute of Science and Technology.

The other ZephIR 300 will be utilised by the UAE Directorate of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to produce a wind atlas of the country and to assist developing countries in their effort to assess their renewable energy resources.

These activities fall in line with the UAE's objective to support the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in its advancement of a publicly accessible atlas of wind and solar resources, particularly for developing countries.

Ian Locker, ZephIR MD within Natural Power, commented: "We are very pleased that Masdar has chosen ZephIR as their preferred wind lidar solution.

The two ZephIR 300 systems procured will now play an important role in supporting the development of renewable energy projects across the UAE. Looking at the actual lidar deployments, the ZephIR systems will now operate in some of the most challenging climatic conditions seen across the globe, adding to the range of environments the team has experience of operating in.

We look forward to working with Masdar over the coming years whilst the wind resource atlas is developed using ZephIR 300."

Dr. Taha Ouarda, Professor of Water and Environmental Engineering at Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, said: "The use of the lidar technology in this mapping campaign will mean less data uncertainty and greater confidence in our annual energy projections.

The sensitivity of this particular lidar technology compared to traditional wind mast measurement or other devices ensures extremely high data availability at the higher measurement heights. Also, since the ZephIR 300 is so portable, it can be deployed easily in different locations over short periods, making it very convenient for our purposes of developing the wind resource atlas."