Latest approaches to securing SA civil aviation authority approvals for radar activated aircraft detection lighting systems for windfarms

Abstract

The rapid development of wind energy farms in South Africa has created various challenges, as the civil aviation and environmental regulators seek to develop collaborative relationships that aim to balance civil aviation safety with environmental sustainability. The industry is a high ‘technology push’ sector, where much innovation comes from overseas developers operating in the USA, Europe and China. Regulatory change has been compounded by some differences in approach between the FAA in the USA and their counterparts in Europe (mainly EASA), as well as the ever-increasing scale of wind farms, which can extend over hundreds of square kilometres, with turbines nearly 300m high. A new disruptive technology is ‘aircraft detection lighting systems’ (ADLS), which provides an alternative to current ICAO regulations that require turbine lights remain continuously on at night. It uses radar and other technologies to activate turbine lights only when aircraft are present within a ‘danger area’ around a windfarm and can significantly reduce light pollution around wind farms. After lobbying by environmental groups such as the ‘dark sky’ movement, ADLSs are now mandatory in certain regions. The key issue facing the approval of ADLSs in emerging markets is that ‘one size does not fit all’, often because of different ‘rules of the air’ in SA. However, as part an initiative between the SACAA, the DFFE and the SA Wind Energy Association (SAWEA), progress is being made in procedures to smooth the regulatory process, as well as technical parameters to be addressed in windfarm lighting. Some of these include ‘detection volumes’ around windfarms, within which ADLSs must reliably detect aircraft. The presentation traces the origins of ADLSs, the regulatory challenges and the status quo in South Africa, especially the process whereby detection parameters can be agreed as design stage, so that developers can fast-track their procurement processes and implement robust pre-commissioning flight-testing protocols to ensure that these parameters are met.