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CONTACT: Brian Sheley

(206) 239-0108

bsheley@apcoworldwide.com

 

 

3TIER Releases Q3, 2010 Wind Performance Maps for Europe and North America

Winds generally up in North America and down in Europe

 

SEATTLE (October 27, 2010) – 3TIER®, a global leader in renewable energy information services, today released wind performance maps for the third quarter of 2010 covering both Europe and North America. It is the first such map 3TIER has produced for Europe after strong interest in the analysis in North America. The maps reveal that much of North America experienced higher than average wind speeds during the quarter. Meanwhile virtually all of Europe experienced normal or below normal wind speeds with the exception of the UK and other small pockets that saw significantly elevated wind speeds.

 

"The maps highlight how short-term weather patterns can significantly disrupt normal climatic expectations," said Kenneth Westrick, founder and CEO of 3TIER. “This sort of retroactive analysis, on a location-specific basis, is also in high demand by our clients. It’s valuable information for reconciling a wind project’s production over the quarter with actual atmospheric conditions to ensure the project is being operated at optimal levels.”

 

"While the performance maps clearly illustrate the variability of wind resources,” Westrick continued, “the good news is that we have the scientific expertise and technology to account for these fluctuations, incorporate them into a project's financials, and forecast their occurrence with a considerable degree of certainty.”

 

The maps can be viewed at:­­­­­­­­­ http://www.3tier.com/en/docs/3tier_q3_2010_ws_variance.pdf

 

In Europe, a prolonged high-pressure system over Russia caused an extreme heat wave and depressed wind speeds. This blocking event also depressed wind speeds below their long-term averages across most of central and northern Europe. Nonetheless, isolated regions saw wind speeds 10% or more above average including the UK, southern Sweden, a band from the Balkans through Romania, and along the Mediterranean coast of France and northern Italy.

 

North America experienced a less patch-worked pattern, with wind speeds reaching 10% above average or more across a wide band from Texas through the Great Lakes into eastern Canada and the northeastern US. Likewise, most of the Intermountain region and Rocky Mountains also saw elevated wind speeds.

 

"We can assess with a high degree of accuracy, what the performance of a project or region will look like over a 40 year period as it is impacted both positively and negatively by normal climatic fluctuations," said Westrick. "Banks, developers, and financial stakeholders look to 3TIER and its sophisticated information services to provide an independent and objective quantification of the potential resource in order to understand the long-term risk, and to maximize power production and profitability."

 

3TIER generated the Q3 Wind Performance Maps by combining observations and numerical weather prediction (NWP) modeling. The map illustrates departures from the long-term mean that range from -10% to +10%, showing a pattern that is indicative of the climate state during the quarter. It provides an indication of how wind projects should have performed relative to their long-term production average based on their location.

 

To view 3TIER’s Q3 Wind Performance Map and learn more about related 3TIER products, please visit: http://www.3tier.com.

 

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ABOUT 3TIER

 

Founded in 1999, Seattle-based 3TIER is one of the largest independent providers of wind, solar and hydro energy assessment and power forecasting worldwide. 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.3tier.com.