NATS, the U.K.’s Air Traffic Control (ATC) firm, has signed a "pioneering deal" with two wind turbine developers, SSE and Vattenfall, that has secured enough funding to modify two Raytheon manufactured radar ATC sites, Lowther Hill and Great Dun Fell.
SSE and Vattenfall’s deal has the potential to unlock up to 2.2GW of new wind energy throughout the U.K. Funding from the deal will allow NATS to launch a three year program called Project RM to provide a technical modification to aircraft radar systems at Lowther Hill and Great Dun Fell. The modification will provide a mitigation service that cuts down on interference from wind turbines on radar signals used by ATCs to direct aircraft traffic.
"This is a landmark agreement that heralds a significant technical advance in mitigating the radar interference from wind turbines; it unlocks significant potential for wind-based power generation and indeed for the UK in meeting its carbon reduction targets," said Richard Deakin, NATS CEO.