3TIER Completes 5 km Wind Maps for Canada and Alaska

To find out more about FirstLook Assessment visit: firstlook.3tiergroup.com.

“At a 5 km resolution, FirstLook now provides developers with a powerful tool to quickly and cost-effectively prospect wind energy potential for the continental U.S., Alaska and Canada,” said Pascal Storck, president of 3TIER, one the largest independent providers of global renewable energy assessment and forecasting.

“With the attention we received after the announcement of FirstLook U.S. last June, we expect more developers will take notice and begin exploring wind potential in Canada and Alaska – all at a tenth of the price of a traditional wind assessment.”

GENIVAR, a Canadian leader in consulting engineering, signed a FirstLook Assessment bundled contract to help clients explore Canada’s wind energy potential.

“With the capabilities and reliability of FirstLook, what was once a complex process is now streamlined to deliver the information our clients need to move quickly on a project,” said David Baker, vice president, Wind Power of GENIVAR.  “We look forward to using the Firstlook tool to be able to quickly estimate the wind resource potential where there is limited or no meteorological data available.”

The 5 km mapping of the continental U.S. and Canada is part of 3TIER’s “Remapping the World,” a longer-term, global initiative launched in March when 3TIER unveiled the first-ever seamless global wind map at a 15 km resolution.

3TIER’s REmapping the World initiative is focused on accelerating the development of renewable energy projects globally by providing information, publicly accessible on the Internet, about where global wind resources potentially exist.

“REmapping the World is meant to answer initial questions about what kind of wind potential exists globally,” said Kenneth Westrick, 3TIER CEO and founder. “The free map provides enough resolution so countries and organizations can begin to look at the potential wind resource at a regional level. If we want developing nations to ‘leapfrog’ over fossil fuels, they need information about what renewable energy resources exist.”

Over the next 21 months, 3TIER plans to continue to map the world for wind at 5 km, country by country, based upon a priority order that takes into account such issues as renewable energy policies, availability of the wind resource and economic development status. The 5 km maps will be available through the FirstLook Assessment online tool.

Many FirstLook contracts are bundled deals where companies or organizations are purchasing multiple reports for a discounted price. Individual FirstLook Professional reports cost $2,500.

Additionally, customers can augment FirstLook’s wind assessment by purchasing geographic information system (GIS) layers to evaluate annual average wind speeds at specific grid points and at certain heights, allowing customers to customize the FirstLook data to more rapidly prospect and map potential wind power sites.

Technical highlights of FirstLook include:

• Accessible via the Internet 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
• A simple two-step, point-and-click process on a Web-based interactive map.
• Results are presented in a practical PDF format report.
• Uses 3TIER’s advanced numerical weather prediction (NWP) modeling technology.  Model simulations were made at a spatial resolution of 5 km and are interpolated for specific areas.
• The 5 km map of the U.S. and Canada was based upon public observations.
• FirstLook Canada and Alaska reach as far north as the 70th parallel.

To learn more about REmapping the World visit: www.remappingtheworld.com.

In addition to wind assessment services, 3TIER provides a full suite of assessment and forecasting services for wind, hydro and solar energy projects.  3TIER uses its knowledge about weather, climate and their impacts on weather-driven renewable energy resources to help customers make better decisions about their investments – before, during and after their projects are built.

ABOUT 3TIER
3TIER is one of the largest independent providers of wind, solar and hydro energy assessment and power forecasting worldwide with offices in North America, Latin America and Asia. People around the world turn to 3TIER when they want the best scientific information to make decisions about renewable energy projects — from the prospecting stage to operations. For more information, visit www.3tiergroup.com.

ABOUT GENIVAR
As one of Canada’s leading engineering services companies, GENIVAR provides private and public-sector clients with a full range of consulting services throughout the project cycle, from planning and design to construction and maintenance. GENIVAR’s clients vary in size and operate in a variety of market segments, including the building, industrial, power, urban infrastructure, transportation and environmental sectors. GENIVAR is also one of Canada’s largest engineering services companies by number of employees, with more than 2,700 managers, professionals, technicians, technologists and support staff in more than 60 offices in Canada and abroad.