Oldenbroker Feld

Existing obstruction lighting system upgraded for Quantec’s ADLS system

Our client’s request

The Oldenbroker wind farm consists of 13 turbines. The wind farm has Orga aeronautical obstruction lighting systems in place since 2018 consisting of system controllers (CIP) and obstruction lights (L550).

In 2018 Quantec delivered an Aircraft Detection Lighting System (ADLS system or BNK system in German) to the end user. This system – that uses radar technology – scans the area for air traffic and activates the aeronautical obstruction lighting only at night when an aircraft is within a certain range.

Activating the lights only when they are needed reduces light pollution by ca. 95%. To achieve this result Quantec and the windfarm Oldenbroker Feld were looking for a way to connect the existing AOL system with the ADLS system.

The Challenge

Because of our previous experience we knew that our recently installed obstruction lights were compatible through a firmware update. The challenge that was left was to make the upgrade specifically fitting for Quantec’s radar based ADLS system.

Orga’s solution

To let Quantec’s ADLS system efficiently interface with our lights, our engineers wrote a new firmware for updating our control panels and obstruction lights. An Orga service engineer visited and explained the update and connection to the ADLS system seen by the end-user. This way the end-user could update cost-efficiently by themselves.

Due to the upgrade, all wind turbines at the Oldenbroker Feld are ready for the upcoming German legislation, known as AV Anhang 6 for Bedarfgesteuerte Nachtkennzeichnung (BNK).