Cancalia, the creator, developer, and supplier of a new approach to wind-flow modeling, is presenting its streamlined and updated wind-flow modeling software at next week’s AWEA Wind Resource & Project Energy Assessment Seminar. Continuum 2.0 arms wind-flow developers with new tools that provide unprecedented accuracy, rapid modeling, ease of use, and affordable licensing.
“Wind-flow modeling software used to be a world of trade-offs where speed, accuracy, and affordability could not coexist,” said Continuum co-founder and CEO Liz Walls. “Continuum 2.0 uses a self-learning algorithm and patented calculations to remove those barriers. We are empowering wind resource analysts to create the types of accurate models that will ultimately gain the wind-power industry the credibility it needs in order to gain advantage over non-renewable sources of energy production.”
Designed to help wind flow model developers eliminate guesswork and quickly see consistent, accurate results, Continuum 2.0 contains several important new features.
1. Wake modeling and loss factor estimates Continuum now factors in production losses caused by wake effects of upwind turbines, as well as loss factors such as turbine availability, electrical power and environmental losses. Developers can now choose from two wake loss models and receive a net energy estimate without any additional steps needed in the resource assessment.
2. Surface roughness calculations Varying surface roughness can have a strong effect on wind speed—and the accuracy of wind flow calculations. Continuum 2.0 estimates the effect of surface roughness on the wind flow, significantly improving model accuracy and decreasing met cross-prediction error by as much as 35%.
3. Turbine performance analysis Developers can now create wind flow models using pre-construction met data and then import that site-calibrated model to use with the wind farm’s permanent tower data to estimate the power production at the turbine sites. By comparing the modeled estimates with actual production values, any poor performers or turbines that are not operating as they should are easily identified and the overall wind farm performance can be assessed and tracked over time.
Continuum 2.0 will be available for demo and download on September 16, 2015. It is priced to be affordable for wind developers, turbine manufacturers, and wind consultants of all sizes, and is available either as a full perpetual license or a monthly subscription.