Weather Central Teams with AL-PRO for Accurate Weather Forecasting
— Feb 23, 2010
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“We are very pleased to have found a partner in Weather Central that can bring exceptional experience and incredibly precise forecasting tools to this venture,” said Carsten Albrecht, founder and managing director of AL-PRO. “The resulting GMS solution is a significant improvement over current weather models and promises to have significant impact on the wind industry, particularly on day-ahead trading and grid management.”
GMS is one of a number of ongoing collaborative efforts planned by the partners to deliver precision forecasts that benefit all facets of the wind industry, including data for due diligence and site planning, construction planning, and operations and maintenance activities.
GMS is the first solution for use in the wind industry to combine a mesoscale weather forecast model with a computational fluid dynamics flow model. Unlike weather forecasts that rely on averages taken over large areas, GMS can provide specific visibility into very tight geographic zones. Most services only produce wind forecasts at the surface which is often very different from the conditions at the actual turbine height. GMS ensures that the wind forecasts account for changes at various elevations including blade height and turbine height. It is available in three versions to meet varying needs:
- GMS STANDARD offers a detailed, elevation-based, hourly wind forecast ideal for near-term applications such as maintenance planning.
- GMS PREMIUM adds GMS MicroCoupling algorithms, the key to turbine-specific wind forecasts for existing wind farms, as well as modeling for terrain and obstacle induced wind effects. An automated warnings option provides advanced alerts of upcoming low or high wind conditions. It also features GMS Smart Learning, a neural network algorithm that learns from forecast deviations and corrects them automatically. GMS PREMIUM is uniquely suited for the efficient allocation of resources during the construction and operation of wind farms.
- GMS FARM YIELD incorporates the features of GMS PREMIUM and adds power-based algorithms that provide modeling specific to each make and model of wind turbine. GMS FARM YIELD features the GMS Yield Predictor that simulates intra-hourly wind fluctuations and turbine wake effects. It offers a detailed yield forecast for wind farms on an individual turbine basis or combined as a summary yield estimate.
For sensitive forecast situations, such as day-ahead spot forecasts, Weather Central offers customers access to the full services of its 24 hours per day weather service operation to verify forecasts and alerts.
“AL-PRO is the ideal partner for Weather Central to work with to bring our world-class weather forecasting and alert information services to bear on the wind energy industry,” said Ben Zimmerman, director of Weather Services at Weather Central. “Together we are able to offer a combination of best-of-breed technologies that create the complete forecasting tool the industry has needed.”
For more information about Weather Central’s products and services, visit www.wxc.com/wind.
