28 January 2013 -Met Office experts will be at the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) Conference in Vienna from 4-7 February 2013 and at RenewableUK Health and Safety 2013 in Sheffield on 31 January 2013.

At EWEA, in line with this year’s conference’s theme of ‘growth’, Met Office experts will demonstrate how ongoing scientific research and investment in solutions can help the industry accurately assess the wind and identify and mitigate the risks associated with wind resource assessment. The focus will be on providing support for developers through the life cycle of wind farm assets, from site delivery to operation and maintenance, enabling companies to maximise their return on investment and grow a successful business. At EWEA Met Office scientists will take part in presentations, examining:

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• The benefits of using Mescoscale models for assessing wind resources and locations, in the Manager of Mesoscale Model Development, Dr Clive Wilson’s: “The Added Value and Validation of Mesoscale Models Compared to Atmospheric Reanalysis for Resource Assessment”.
• The initial stages of wind energy plants, as Teil Howard, Applied Scientist, presents: “Designing an Optimal Forecast Trial”.
• The overall issues and challenges of resource assessment in Wind Energy Specialist, Leo Hume-Wright’s session: “Resource Assessment – Challenging Sites and Other Issues”. Rob Harrison, Head of Renewables at the Met Office, says, “Managing wind risk is critical. It’s not enough to understand only the climatology, it’s also vital to understand the risks associated with wind assessment in relation to the overall return on investment of any project and the impact of wind resource on a company’s renewable energy business. “We have developed and applied the latest science to create products for the renewable energy sector to provide businesses with the right information, readily available in the right format, for every stage of the wind farm’s life cycle.”

At RenewableUK Health and Safety 2013 in Sheffield, Met Office experts will demonstrate how their latest innovative technologies, as used by ScottishPower Renewables and RWE npower renewables, can help reduce safety risks to the wind energy sector. By providing accurate forecasting, including real time site specific alerts for hazardous weather, Met Office products are helping to secure the health and safety of staff and contractors on site, as well as minimising downtime to enable efficient and cost-effective operations at wind farms. Setting the standards for wind, the Met Office offers a suite of solutions for the wind energy sector to cover each stage of a wind asset’s business life cycle, including:

• Virtual Met MastTM: a site-specific wind analysis model-based tool to provide fast and accurate wind farm site screening.
• VisualEyesTM: an intuitive, web-based weather alert system designed in conjunction with the industry to help manage wind farm assets.
• Wind Production Forecast: a site-specific weather forecasting service, with enhanced output accuracy, to help generators make more accurate predictions of energy generation from wind farm assets.
• SafeseeTM: a web-based forecast and weather alert delivery system for offshore wind farms, which makes weather information easier to interpret and aids operational decision making.

The Met Office team will be available to talk about each of the solutions, their application and benefits to the renewable energy industry. For more information on the Met Office’s services for renewable energy, please see www.metoffice.gov.uk/renewables.