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The LIM, with the support of the German energy company RWE Innogy and in collaboration with the operator of the Eneco Luchterduinen offshore wind farm, has successfully installed the first buoy off the Dutch coast. The data obtained with the EOLOS FLS200 buoy, which is marketed by Eolos Floating Solutions, can be used to choose the best location for a future offshore wind farm in the Netherlands or any other location.

he EOLOS FLS200 buoy was installed in March in the southern Dutch North Sea, in the vicinity of the met mast IJmuiden, in water about 27 metres deep and approximately 90 kilometres from the Dutch coast. The floating platform measures vertical wind profiles that reach heights of over 200 meters above sea level. It also measures waves, currents and other parameters such as air temperature, atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, precipitation and water temperature.

The data obtained will inform preliminary studies to select the best location for an offshore wind farm in the Netherlands or any other location and determine the right dimensions for the wind turbines and their installation. They will also serve as a tool for managing the wind farm once it is operational. Knowledge of the exact weather conditions where an offshore wind farm is planned reduces the financial risk of the operation.

The buoy is equipped with computer software that controls the acquisition of the data, their delivery by satellite and the diagnosis of all of the buoy's devices and power systems.

The concept and design are revolutionary in the field of marine observation platforms of this kind. Met masts that are anchored to the seabed or float and that cost up to 10 times more than the solution developed are rendered unnecessary. Despite being small, the buoy has four floats and a set of movable doors that make it easy to access the inside to install equipment and power systems, which until now was only possible with larger and heavier buoys.

The buoy is designed according to a modular system for easy transport and maintenance and to make it as adaptable as possible to all kinds of requirements regarding measurement capabilities. It also incorporates an innovative system for operating and managing the Lidar equipment inside, which improves its performance compared with other existing systems because it allows wind speeds to be measured at different heights above the sea's surface.

It is derived from the Neptune prototype installed on the Petroleum Bridge in Badalona in July 2013 as part of a project funded by KIC InnoEnergy, in which, in addition to the LIM, other UPC groups such as RSLab participated, as well as the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Gas Natural Fenosa, the Energy, Environment and Technology Research Centre (CIEMAT) in Madrid, the University of Stuttgart and the companies SIMO and Eolos Floating Solutions. The data and experience obtained in the Badalona experiment have been used to design the new buoy.

KIC InnoEnergy—a company in which the UPC, the IREC, the CIEMAT, Gas Natural Fenosa and other bodies participate—has been responsible, together with the aforementioned bodies and the University of Stuttgart and the SIMO (Solucions d'Enginyeria Marítima Operacionals) company, for developing and promoting Neptune, a revolutionary project that will allow the costs of offshore wind energy to be reduced.