Dulas engineers in Scotland managed to install a 100m meteorological mast on the Isle of Skye recently despite the imminent arrival of storm force winds and freezing cold temperatures. The team was mustered just before Storm Arwen swept in but they still managed to complete the job for Muirhall Energy within a very short window, particularly impressive given that there were a few days where the wind was so extreme that Dulas safety protocols dictated that no climbing could be undertaken. Any downtime was limited by progressing works on the ground.
The site, Glen Ullinish, near Struan on north-west of Skye, had original planning consent for 14 turbines with a height of 119m but this has since been revised to 11 turbines with a maximum tip height of 149.9m to optimise the design and make the site more productive to meet Scotland’s ambitious renewable energy targets. The 100m mast, which has bird diverters on the outer guy wires, will enable Muirhall Energy to monitor conditions and obtain accurate wind measurement data to maximise energy production from the eventual site. Dulas used local engineers to complete the job as per the wishes of Muirhall Energy.
Project Manager, Bryony Benfield Pritchard commented:
“Installing lattice masts in winter can be a real challenge, especially due to the limited hours of daylight and particularly harsh weather conditions. We were keen to assist Muirhall Energy to get the mast up and start gathering data as soon as we could. Our site team enjoyed the challenge too – one of our site managers is from the Isle of Skye, so when it came to using local contacts we knew who to go to.”
About meteorological masts
Proven and dependable data from traditional met-masts have been the cornerstone of the modern wind industry since the late 1980s. Understanding wind flow at different heights using advanced anemometry has been at the core of Dulas’s DNA since 1988, when we installed our first anemometer and data logger system at the Cemmaes wind farm, Wales.
The enduring appeal of traditional met-masts compared to new technologies such as LiDAR and SoDAR, is much discussed within the wind industry.
Find out more about Dulas’s Wind Monitoring turnkey services for traditional met masts
