Wind farms and weather data are a perfect couple because weather data helps wind farms mitigate their operational, financial, and human risks.
Keep reading to find out how one of the leaders in the industry does it.
To show you how wind farms use our advanced weather and lightning data, we thought we’d show you a real-life example.
One of the leaders in the renewable energy space recently selected Earth Networks as their lightning data provider. With global wind power solutions installed in over 90 countries, this organization needed real-time lightning data to ensure successful operation of both onshore and offshore wind farms.
Lightning is a major concern for wind arm operators because it can cause damage to wind turbines including:
In addition, thunderstorms create dangerous conditions for maintenance crews and those near the wind farm.
When choosing a lightning data provider for wind farms it’s important to understand how wind farms use lightning data. We have a more in-depth blog post about that, but there are two main reasons.
The first is for safety. While we can’t control thunderstorms, we can use lightning data to predict when thunderstorms are going to arrive at your location and how severe they will be.
The second reason wind farms use lightning data is for estimating damage. As you can imagine, lightning strikes wind turbines quite often, as wind turbines are basically giant lightning rods. By understanding more about a lightning strike, like its peak current, wind energy operations can better predict which wind turbines were damaged and how damaged they are. This leads to shorter down-times and increased financial savings.
This organization uses the following advanced lightning data from Earth Networks:
As this organization knew first-hand, simply having lightning data or weather alerts isn’t enough. They have to all work cohesively together to be functional at a real wind energy operation.
Before relying on Earth Networks for real-time lightning data and proximity alerting for lightning, this organization used several third-party solutions to aggregate their lightning data. This resulted in different reporting parameters, alerts, and other inconsistencies between the organization’s 99 sites.
With Earth Networks, they now have one, comprehensive source of accurate lightning data. This global solution covers all of their operational areas with high-quality and high-resolution lightning data. This lightning data and real-time lightning alerts makes their operation safer and more efficient.
When you choose Earth Networks for your wind energy operations, you get so much more than just lightning data or alerts. The best part is, our experts build a solution that works for your organization’s size, goals, and scope of work.
Here’s what’s included in this renewable energy leader’s comprehensive package from Earth Networks:
Do you work for a wind farm operation that is struggling with multiple third-party apps when it comes to weather safety and efficiency?
Ready to see what our experts can build for you? Contact us today to hear from one of our professionals who understands your needs.