News
Announcing windNavigator
June 01, 2008
AWS Truewind, LLC, announces the launch of its web-based wind prospecting application windNavigator™. A state-of-the-art interactive tool based on the popular GoogleMaps®, windNavigator allows for the convenient exploration and purchase via the internet of highly accurate and detailed wind resource maps and data for the conterminous United States.
“For over a decade AWS Truewind has been the leader in the science and application of wind mapping for all types of wind climates worldwide,” according to AWS Truewind President/CEO Bruce Bailey. “Our emphasis on high-resolution modeling and extensive validation has resulted in products that energy developers and government planners rely upon for siting projects and assessing development potential.”
“We’ve now taken the step of making our mapping products more accessible to support the accelerating expansion of wind power,” Dr. Bailey adds.
The maps delivered through windNavigator were created by AWS Truewind’s MesoMap® system, well known in the wind industry as the technology behind ground-breaking wind maps published over the past decade for over 30 US states as well as many other countries.
But, as AWS Truewind Chief Technical Officer Michael Brower explains, “these are not the same maps the public has seen before. In creating windNavigator, we applied a sophisticated error-correction procedure using data from over 1000 wind-monitoring towers across the country.”
“As a result,” says Dr. Brower, “the new maps achieve an unprecedented level of accuracy.”
In addition, unlike previously published maps, windNavigator covers all the lower 48 states. Alaska and Hawaii will follow soon, along with other countries.
“The ultimate objective is to map regions with high wind project development potential throughout the world with the same degree of accuracy and detail our clients have come to expect of us here at home,” says AWS Truewind Product Development Manager Staci Clark, who led the windNavigator development team.
windNavigator provides flexible purchasing options geared toward diverse end users and various phases of project development. For preliminary prospecting, PDF maps at one of three hub heights provide a fast and easy way to better understand the wind resource across a defined area. For users looking to dig deeper, the GIS data set is an interactive option that allows for view customization, incorporation of other data layers (e.g. land parcels), and printable maps at any scale. The GIS data set also includes a gross capacity factor layer at 80 m based on a generic megawatt-class turbine, as well as high resolution DEM (digital elevation model) and land cover data. With this comprehensive information, AWS Truewind believes project developers will be well equipped to begin charting their course to project realization.
Key features of windNavigator include:
- Convenience: Online access available anytime, anywhere; all the user needs is an internet connection.
- Accuracy: Objectively determined standard error margin of 0.35 m/s for the mean speed at 80 m.
- Reliability: Wind resource data from MesoMap, the most widely tested and validated wind mapping system in use today.
- Detail: High-resolution wind information at a refined grid scale of 200 m, plus multiple heights above ground. Terrain and demographic data available, too.
- Customization: Project-scale maps and GIS data provide a clear picture of the wind resource and its spatial variability over an area of the user’s choosing.
AWS Truewind Presentation Topics Cover Full Spectrum at Windpower 2008
May 20, 2008
AWS Truewind will be presenting a diverse range of topics at the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) annual conference and tradeshow in Houston, Texas, June 1-4, 2008. Presentation topics include; Gulf of Mexico and New England Offshore Wind Resource Mapping, Adjustment of Anemometer Readings for Energy Production Estimates, and Understanding and Closing the Gap on Plant Underperformance. The latter topic, to be presented by AWS Truewind’s Director of Engineering Eric White, will address one of the top issues facing the industry today. The discussion will explore the issue of plant underperformance and the underlying contributing factors involved. The results on validation of predictions across a number of projects will be presented, the various causes associated with underperformance will be explored and an in-depth analysis of the most significant factors will be presented. Case study examples for illustration and quantification of the effects regarding areas of most significance and broadest effect across industry will provide audience members with real-world applications. This presentation topic will be of great interest to the industry as a whole, and more specifically to, owner/operators, lending institutions and anyone concerned with maximizing their return on investment.
In addition to session presentations, Dr. John Zack, Director of Forecasting, will speak at the Forecasting 101 Pre-Conference Seminar on the basic science of weather prediction with a focus on mesoscale modeling. Dr. Bruce Bailey, AWS Truewind’s President and CEO, will give an overview of the industry during the Wind Energy 101: Wind Energy Fundamentals Pre-Conference Seminar. AWS Truewind is also well-represented in the poster session with two engineering-focused topics; Optimizing Wind Farm Design for Profitability and Improving Wind Farm Operations: Unlocking plant potential through SCADA data mining.AWS Truewind Follows Texas Tradition with Expansion of Austin Corporate Office
May 12, 2008
AWS Truewind announced today that it has expanded its corporate office in Austin, Texas:
Tower of the Hills
13809 Research Boulevard
Suite 655
Austin, TX 78750 USA
The move, effective June 1, marks another milestone in the company’s recent pattern of growth. Located in the heart of Texas, the new offices provide a geographically attractive setting for AWS Truewind’s ever-expanding staff. The larger corporate office will serve as a strategic location for servicing AWS Truewind’s southwestern projects and clients. The office will be led by Ignacio Carballo, Manager and Assistant Director of Project Services.
“The expansion is a welcomed necessity for the company,” said Bruce Bailey, President/CEO of AWS Truewind. “We have seen significant growth over the past few years and are planning for continued growth this year and beyond.”
A little over a year ago, the company’s corporate headquarters, located in Albany, NY, moved from its home adjacent to the University of Albany campus to a contemporary two-story building near Albany International Airport. At the time of the move the staff fit well on the first floor; one year later the second floor was occupied. The record growth is no surprise given the wind energy industry’s meteoric growth. As one of the industry’s leading consultancies, AWS Truewind’s suite of gold standard services are sought by the vast majority of wind project developers, utilities and other parties involved in large-scale wind project development.
“The decision to expand our Texas office was an easy one,” said Ignacio Carballo, who will manage the Austin office. “With the industry’s intense level of interest in Texas and surrounding states, we need to be in a location that is convenient for all of our clients. In addition to convenience for our clients, AWS Truewind certainly benefits from being on the ground in what is currently the industry’s hottest market. It just makes good sense all around.”