Lufft USA has introduced a new environmental weather sensor that offers exceptional accuracy. The WS3000 is so precise that a regular calibration laboratory isn’t able to measure with the same level of accuracy or certainty. Lufft’s WS3000 measures air temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, and could serve as the reference for all other environmental sensors. With high-quality aluminum housing…
Vaisala upgrades GLD360 global lightning-detection network
With a record breaking count of 30, the northern hemisphere has seen more major hurricanes and typhoons of category 3, 4, and 5 in 2015 than in any previous season. Particularly vigorous activity in the Pacific, attributed partly to a potent El Niño, has made a major contribution. While Sandra became the strongest hurricane to…
Mojo (software developer) adds technical breakdown modelling feature to Mermaid (its software)
When repairs require a return to port, Mermaid harnesses its geographic awareness to automatically schedule the transits.
GCube unveils Weather Risk Transfer device for the wind industry
GCube, an underwriter for renewable energy initiatives, has launched a new Weather Risk Transfer device for the wind and hydroelectric energy sectors, providing project owners and stakeholders with a means to mitigate the financial impact of resource volatility. While intermittency is a given for the renewables sector, as the proportion of clean energy generation in…
Vaisala forecasts El Niño will continue to impact U.S. wind in Q1 2016
A strengthening El Niño weather pattern is expected to boost wind energy performance for West Coast investors and operators in the first quarter of 2016, while many regions of the United States will continue to feel the impact of below average wind speeds into next year. This is according to a forecast released by Vaisala,…
GEV’s full-sized Habitat blade-access platform to be unveiled at global offshore wind exhibition
Visitors to the Renewable UK Global Offshore Wind exhibition (RUK GOW2015) will be first to see GEV Wind Power’s full-size Habitat, which takes place June 24-25, 2015 in London. The Habitat provides a weather-protected maintenance environment for wind technicians. It enables a technician to travel to the top of the turbine’s blade on the access…
Vaisala launches new thunderstorm tracking and lightning alert application
Vaisala has released the Thunderstorm Manager, a professional application for tracking approaching storms and warning of imminent threats from lightning for any location. Thunderstorm Manager combines data from Vaisala’s US National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) and Vaisala’s GLD360, the network that delivers high-quality, truly global lightning coverage, to deliver comprehensive lightning information. With many thousands…
Wind farms perform best when the sun is out
When set up in groups, wind turbines in the front rows cast a wind shadow on those behind them, lowering their performance. These effects dissipate fastest under convective conditions, according to Swiss researchers from EPFL, in a recent journal. Obviously, wind farms work best when it’s windy. But aside from wind-speed and direction, there are…
Weather data from nation’s largest wind farms could improve U.S. models, forecasts
Private companies share weather data with NOAA Two of the nation’s largest producers of wind-generated electric power will share privately-collected weather data with NOAA, providing agency scientists with additional observations from wind farms across the nation for research and operations. NOAA now has data sharing agreements with Iberdrola Renewables of Portland, Ore., and NextEra Energy…
Automated hourly forecasts improved with human experience
MDA EarthSat is now providing hourly weather forecasts through a revamped hourly interface system. This service provides a reference tool for individuals in industries such as wind, gas and electric utilities, and other load-monitoring tasks. In the system, ten forms of model guidance create a “first pass” forecast, which is then analyzed and adjusted by…
On demand wind data, online
A new managed-online wind data service, vuWind, draws on over fifteen years of wind engineering, analysis, and consultancy advice to provide clients with ‘on demand’ wind data through a secure web portal accessed through www.vuwind.com. An effective operational wind farm comes from understanding wind resource and quality across the site by collecting and analyzing as…
Minimizing Severe Weather Risks on Wind Farms
Don Leick, Telvent, www.telvent.com When severe weather hits a wind farm, the ultimate safety goal for maintenance crews is to get down from the towers and drive away from the storms. However the height of the turbines and expanse of the properties makes doing so no small task. Therefore, it becomes critically important for wind…