Windpower Engineering & Development

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Most recent posts
    • News
    • Featured
  • Resources
    • Digital issues
    • Podcasts
    • Suppliers
    • Webinars
    • Events
  • Videos
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
  • Magazine
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Weather data from nation’s largest wind farms could improve U.S. models, forecasts

By Paul Dvorak | January 4, 2013

Private companies share weather data with NOAA

noaa

Maps like this from NOAA will soon post more accurate weather data and forecasts thanks to a sharing agreement with private weather companies.

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 Resources of Juno Beach, Fla.-the country’s two largest generators of wind-generated electric power, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

The companies will provide valuable weather observations from instrumented towers in their wind farms and wind-speed data from instruments atop wind turbines. Since 2011, Xcel Energy of Minneapolis, Minn. has provided similar observations to NOAA.

“Everyone who uses weather information will benefit from these additional data,” said Kathryn D. Sullivan, Ph.D., assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction and NOAA deputy administrator. “These observations are made at altitudes that are not routinely observed. The more information we are able to collect leads to more accurate predictions.”

NOAA will use these weather observations in operational model forecasts produced by NOAA’s National Weather Service. Wind data at these heights are not routinely observed and are of great interest to many industries and researchers involved in renewable energy, aviation, and air quality.

While the observations are business-sensitive and will not be redistributed outside of NOAA, the agency’s scientists will use the data to validate and improve weather models at NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory and at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction.

“NextEra Energy recognizes that a better NOAA weather forecast will ultimately improve our operational decisions and our bottom line,” said Mark Ahlstrom, CEO for WindLogics, a NextEra Energy Resources subsidiary that also contributed data to NOAA. “Sharing data with NOAA makes sense because it helps the administration deliver better forecasts for use by our company and the general public.”

Jerry Crescenti, Director of Meteorology for Iberdrola Renewables, added, “When it comes to observations, you can never have enough. Hopefully, other wind energy companies will consider securely providing their weather observations to NOAA to improve the foundational forecasts for all in the industry.”

NOAA
http://www.energy.noaa.gov/


Filed Under: News
Tagged With: : iberdrola, NextEra, NOAA, weather
 

About The Author

Paul Dvorak

Comments

  1. Bobby Coleman says

    January 9, 2013 at 3:09 pm

    I think this is a great idea why not have the data from the wind farm flowing into the forecasts models too
    just like the mesonet data also like the Texas Tech mesonet.The extra data from the wind farms would be a
    great help mostly like from the larger farms like here in Abilene,Texas area.

Related Articles Read More >

Richardson Electronics to deliver pitch energy modules to TransAlta wind fleets
Equinor halts work on Empire Wind offshore project after federal government order
ARESCA wants input on offshore wind standards
US wind market has worst install year since 2013

Podcasts

Wind Spotlight: Looking back at a year of Thrive with ZF Wind Power
See More >

Windpower Engineering & Development Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Browse the most current issue of Windpower Engineering & Development and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading wind power engineering magazine today.

Windpower Engineering & Development
  • Wind Articles
  • Solar Power World
  • Subscribe to Windpower Engineering
  • About Us/Contact Us

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising

Search Windpower Engineering & Development

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Most recent posts
    • News
    • Featured
  • Resources
    • Digital issues
    • Podcasts
    • Suppliers
    • Webinars
    • Events
  • Videos
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
  • Magazine
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe