ISSWIND

Objectives of the service

Due to the increased interest in the usage of renewable energies, in part driven by European Commission 20-20-20 strategy for reduction of greenhouse gas emission, reduction of energy usage and increase of renewable energies use, attention to the wind power market increased.

Within this scope, the present project intents to study if the usage of space technology in wind farms planning and operation is viable and if it can provide services that present added value to the stakeholders involved in the wind power market.

In view of the evolution occurred in space technology, it is foreseen that some features derived from Earth Observation programs, GNSS constellations, Meteorological space surveys and other can in fact be used in one or more stages of a wind farm live cycle, either supporting existing techniques or suggesting new approaches. This should lead to

easier use and access to key data or services, to be used by the industry and users, producing financial and efficiency benefits.

Users and their needs

The study intents to involve all the users that are directly or indirectly related to wind farm implementation.

Hence the target users will cover:

DEVELOPERS/OPERATORS (the initiators and operators of wind farms)
FINANCIAL COMMUNITY (the entities that finance the implementation)
GRID USERS (the distributions of the energy produced)
MANUFACTURERS (industry supplying parts and equipment)
RESEARCH/GOVERNMENT (entities that possess knowledge to help the wind farm planning, along with the entities that certify and regulate the market)

We shall focus in the European market, but contacts with other regions users is not excluded.

Service/ system concept

(to be identified after the user questionnaires are completed and user cases defined)

Space Added Value

The use of space technology in the wind farm implementations process is expected to bring at a good number of advantages, not only in standalone services but also as services that augment the current used technologies

Availability of a wider range of meteorological data.
High refresh rates and wide areas are possible to observe with space assets
Several sources are available which augments data availability.
The space data collected can be used to confirm and/or calibrate
the existing weather prediction models
The data is available almost immediately in most cases.
A good part of the available data is free of charge.
The paid data sources usually provide high accuracy.
A wide collection of historical data is available, which helps the long term prediction models.
The use of satellites communication can be used in remote areas where the traditional communication means are scarce
The use of Earth Observation data can be used as a preliminary terrain prospecting, reducing this type of costs.