Japanese weather information platform Weathernews has launched a new business unit tailored to the offshore wind power market.
According to Weathernews, the push for renewable energy has led to a surge in the number of companies advancing into the offshore wind power industry, resulting in an increase in demand for maritime meteorological information.
Weathernews already offers meteorological data services to support marine transportation companies in the selection of optimum routes for vessels carrying construction equipment and materials, as well as power generation forecast to power companies.
The company has now established the Total Offshore Project Support Team, providing meteorological support for all aspects of offshore wind power projects, ranging from feasibility studies and project planning, to construction, logistics, operations and maintenance. It will also work on the development of an AI-based high-resolution prediction model to enable site-specific forecasts of winds, waves and currents at 5-10 times the resolution of conventional models.
To support feasibility studies, the team will analyze wind and wave data for the past few decades to select highly feasible locations for installing a power generation facility. For the process planning phase, the team will statistically calculate the number of days available for power generation based on the meteorological data accumulated in the weather database to assist with the formulation and revision of monthly process plan.
Upon commencement of construction, the service will pinpoint wind and wave forecast for the construction site to help ensure work takes place safely by avoiding periods of high-risk weather events. Once the construction of the power generation facility is completed, power generation forecasts and operability information for workboats using high-resolution prediction models will help assist with operation and maintenance tasks.