Product Pick of the Week - Iberdrola using supercomputer to predict wind farm output

IBERDROLA and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), are jointly developing a major R&D&I initiative known as the ‘Sedar Project (High Resolution Wind Simulation)’.

SEDAR is an innovative project aimed at developing a new computer model to improve estimates of electrical energy production in windfarms before their construction.

Current models have a significant limitation in their calculation times, and this project has succeeded in overcoming this shortcoming through the use of supercomputing techniques. Furthermore, the project will develop improvements for the resolution of physical models which, so far, have been constrained by computing times.

In the initial stage, already being tested, the project will design new windfarms that can be deployed with greater guarantees, as it will provide the most suitable locations for installing the wind turbines and reduce the uncertainty involved in investing in this type of study. This phase of the project, which is done using Alya Green software, can be applied in future onshore and offshore wind farms.

For the Sedar Project, IBERDROLA and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center are using Spain’s most important supercomputer, the MareNostrum, one of the most powerful in the world. Both organisations have agreed to carry out the development of the model and its subsequent deployment in IBERDROLA’s new windfarm projects in the facilities of the BCS-CNS.

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) is the leading supercomputing centre in Spain, and specialises in high-performance computing. It performs a dual function, offering supercomputing infrastructures and services to Spanish and European scientists, and generating knowledge and technology to be transferred to society.

The BSC manages Spain´s Supercomputing Network (RES) and is a “Severo Ochoa” centre for excellence, a top tier element of Europe´s research infrastructure PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe).

Since 2004, the BSC has been developing Alya, a software for resolving multi-physical problems with a wide range of industrial applications. One of the best known is the Alya Red project which simulates the operation of the human heart.

The INNPACTO SC-OPENFOAM project is part of the SEDAR initiative and is supported by financing from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness within the INNPACTO programme, together with the National Centre for Renewable Energies (CENER), which has contributed its prior experience in developing these wind power models.

Contribution to wind power technology

This initiative will mean an important technological advancement for the wind industry which is essential in the short term. It also represents yet another decisive contribution by IBERDROLA to the development of this energy source.

The first was the establishment of the Renewable Energy Operation Centre (CORE) in Toledo in 2003, where for the very first time the control and operation of all the renewable facilities were integrated within a single company. The inauguration of this control centre represented a turning point for wind power, as it ceased to be an energy source that was difficult to operate and control and became easy to manage.

IBERDROLA subsequently developed the Meteoflow project to forecast daily windfarm production, thereby enabling wind power to take its place in the electrical power market, and representing a decisive step in facilitating the work of operating and maintaining windfarms.

With the Sedar Project, IBERDROLA has consolidated its benchmark position in the development of renewables research projects, as it allows windfarms to be designed so as to present lower risks for investment.

IBERDROLA is currently at the forefront of developing R&D&I projects in the sector in both onshore and offshore wind power as well as in wave, tide, biomass and biogas power.

Moreover, for over 15 years the Company has been leading the industry project pipeline with investment worth over €25 billion, brining current installed capacity to 14,000 MW and being a market leader in countries such as Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.