Natural Power announced the launch of a new product which should help wind farm operators forecast the power output of their wind farms. The software leverages local weather forecasts of meteoblue© (independent meterological forecaster) which provides forecasts for local areas on five continents. Along with Natural Power's consulting services, the combination results in a source of knowledge "from the ground up" which improves accuracy, accessibility and usefulness of energy forecasts for particular wind farms.

Operators are given hourly forecasts of wind potential, and energy generation values for up to six days ahead. Hourly forecasts give operators instantaneous production parameters ranging from 6 hours to 6 days ahead. Daily forecasts give total daily ouput values for the forecast date, and up to 7 days ahead. Other features are planned wind turbine curtailment and downtimes. Additionally, the company uses another of its products, Ventos, to introduce and combine CFD data based on local topography and roughness in order to further refine forecasts.

[source: Natural Power]