Met Tower Data Management

Are you in the "95 Percent Club"?

Being in the “95 Percent Club” refers to having met tower data at a proposed wind farm site that is of satisfactory quality for 95 percent of a 12-month period. WindLogics knows the importance in being in this club from its experience in bringing thousands of megawatts of wind projects from met tower installation to financing. Fall below this 95 percent threshold and you will likely see an uncertainty ”penalty” of millions of dollars when it comes to selling your project or financing debt coverage.

So, what does this mean from a practical standpoint? Only 18 days (432 hours) of the year can be missed to stay above the 95 percent threshold. A couple days here and a few hours there will quickly add up and 18 days will go by in the blink of an eye if met tower planning and monitoring are not adequately addressed. Here are a few items that should be considered when creating a wind measurement campaign with a goal of recovering industry-accepted data for 95 percent of the year:

  • How do you know that the data you are collecting is ‘good’? The hidden value of a met tower data management system is the sophisticated filters it uses to determine if the data is good or bad as it is being collected. The software provided with most met tower packages does not have this capability.
  • Do you have a tower maintenance crew ready to deploy promptly? Waiting to contract with a repair specialist until you have a problem with a tower will burn days that you can’t afford to lose.
  • How often is your tower scheduled to transmit data? More frequent data transmissions (1-3 days) may provide earlier notice of problems with a sensor or tower, especially when coupled with a monitoring service.
  • Do you have a tower maintenance schedule? For towers that will be in the field for 18 months or more, it may be wise to replace sensors or other equipment before they fail.
  • Will the tower see a cold season? Towers in a cold climate are at higher risk of experiencing periods of sustained icing during the winter, which will put standard cup anemometors out of commission for weeks at a time. This risk can be minimized by appropriate up-front planning and sensor selection.
  • Is your data safe and secure? Secure and redundant data storage in a dedicated data “warehouse” ensures your data will not fall victim to a computer crash, virus or other untimely accident.

For those involved in wind farm planning and finance, consideration of the above items is crucial to securing the best terms and expectations for your project.

OnSite™ Data Management System

WindLogics to Announce OnSite 3.1 at WINDPOWER 2010

OnSite Data Management enables wind energy developers and operators to remotely monitor their meteorological towers and maximize the value of their wind measurement investment. The OnSite system quickly detects changes in a wind sensor’s “health” status and sends relevant data and alerts directly to a tower’s owner. Continual data quality checking such as this ensures that problems with equipment are promptly resolved. This greatly improves the odds that a tower will achieve the industry standard of quality data over 95% of the year, which increases its value in formal, bank-worthy assessments.

In response to customer feedback, OnSite 3.1 now provides enhanced functionality including dynamic generation of wind roses and the ability to attach documents to a met tower’s record. More than 700 met towers have been enrolled on the system since 2005. Currently, OnSite is used to manage met towers representing more than 30,000 MW of future wind projects – equivalent to three times the amount of wind power installed in the US during 2009. For more information on these and other WindLogics services for the planning, design and operation of wind farms, please stop by Booth 4216 or contact WindLogics Business Development.

Exhibit Hall – Stop by Booth 4216

Questions on how to design an effective data measurement campaign or how to take advantage of proven processes and methods for building and operating the most successful renewable energy assets?

Please stop by Booth 4216 to visit with the WindLogics staff. We’re showcasing new offerings aimed at helping our customers plan, design and operate profitable renewable energy projects. While we are changing, growing, and advancing with the industry, our tradition of tradeshow giveaways is not. Be sure to stop by and get your WindLogics’ Sharpie, a WINDPOWER staple since 2006!

Conference – General, Technical & Poster Sessions

While at WINDPOWER, please check your conference program for WindLogics podium and poster presentations on wind and solar resource assessment, as well as advanced forecasting. In addition, WindLogics CEO Mark Ahlstrom will be participating in the Opening Session on Monday morning, sharing his thoughts during “Wind Works: Faces of the Industry.” Visit our WINDPOWER 2010 page for a detailed schedule of our contributions during the conference sessions.

WindLogics now on Twitter!

While at the WINDPOWER 2010 (hashtag #WP10), please follow us on Twitter. We'll be reporting on interesting presentations, exhibit hall events, and more.

Interested in subscribing to News From WindLogics? Please click to join our email list.