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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 26.12.2024, 18:26

Estonian defense forces' radar needs may foil Eleon wind farm project

BC, Tallinn, 27.01.2016.Print version
A plan of members of the Estonian Wind Energy Association to set up a wind farm and a plant for the manufacture of oversized wind turbines in northeastern Estonia may not materialize because the turbines will get in the way of the functioning of the radars of the Estonian defense forces, Eesti Paevaleht said.

Maj. Mati Kuppar, air surveillance engineer and head of the technical group at the Estonian Air Force, said there were multiple problems related to the radars, reports LETA/BNS.

 

"First, the rotating rotor blades of the wind turbines create false targets for a radar. The ion emission of the blades is largely similar to the emission of an aircraft, which means that they are identified as flying craft," Kuppar said.

 

A bigger problem is that Estonian radars would be blind to the area situated behind the radars. When the wind turbines are 200 meters high and far enough from the radar, the limit of the blind area will be so high that a military aircraft can operate in it, the officer added.

 

Besides the wind farm would hinder radio reconnaissance. Rotating blades would mix the radio signal up so badly that you definitely won't be able to identify the whole message and its place of origin, the paper said.

 

Eleon AS, a company of Estonian businessmen Andres and Oleg Sonajalg, is planning to build a 100 megawatt wind farm in the territory of the former Aidu open pit mine in East-Viru county. The wind turbines would be manufactured by Eleon and the technology to be used has been developed in Estonia. Also a substantial part of the components of the wind turbines will be manufactured in Estonia.

 

In December, Andres Sonajalg described the new wind farm as a large-scale reference facility to support the export of Eleon wind generators to other countries, serving as a milestone in the manufacture of wind generators of so big size and the launch of the branch of industry in Estonia. The generators manufactured by Eleon have a tower 135 meters high and a rotor with a diameter of 120 meters.






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