PNE and its partners reduce light emissions from obstruction lighting of wind power turbines with new detection system

PNE and its partners reduce light emissions from obstruction lighting of wind power turbines with new system

(PRESS RELEASE) CUXHAVEN, 7-Aug-2019 — /EuropaWire/ — PNE AG and its partners has successfully developed a ready-to-use system for “on-demand night-time marking” (BNK) of wind power turbines for a wind farm comprising different turbine types. The system can now be put into operation at Kührstedt-Alfstedt wind farm in Lower Saxony after obtaining all the necessary approvals.

The system enables the warning lights to only switched on when a flying object is in the immediate vicinity of the wind farm via a signal for the time of the overflight.

The Kührstedt-Alfstedt wind farm has 13 wind power turbines manufactured by Siemens and Senvion. Since 2017, PNE has been operating the wind farm and as part of the project development, the company has voluntarily agreed to convert the night-time marking of the wind power turbines to BNK as required by aviation law. The required approval by Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) has been obtained. This project has now been completed.

Patrick Orth and Heiko Stoffers, project manager at PNE AG said: “We know that permanent warning lights can be annoying for local residents. In our pursuit to be a future-oriented developer and operator of wind farms, it was natural for the PNE Group to lead the way in the search for solutions and not to wait for a legal regulation.”

Markus Lesser, CEO of PNE AG, commented: “PNE develops clean energy solutions, and this also includes considering and minimising light emissions from obstruction lighting. We are thus making a contribution to greater acceptance of wind energy.”

Further wind farms can be connected

PNE AG and the operations management company “energy consult” GmbH started its cooperation with Quantec Sensors GmbH in September 2017. Currently, they jointly operate the system for the detection of aircraft in the district of Cuxhaven. The system was one of the first to obtain approval from Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS). Energy Consult GmbH is part of the PNE Group.

In October 2018, The lattice tower and the detection system were installed, followed by programming and testing. This prompted the integration of the Kührstedt-Alfstedt wind farm into the system. The system is suitable for connecting further wind farms. In particular, the large detection radius of 18 kilometres is a decisive advantage of the system. The detection system is located in the Wollingst district of the municipality of Beverstedt.

For press information, please contact:

Rainer Heinsohn
Head of Communications

+49 4721 718 453
rainer.heinsohn(at)pne-ag.com

SOURCE: PNE AG