Natural Power, RES and the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto (FEUP), Portugal have signed a significant research and development joint venture focused on developing the next generation VENTOS computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for wind energy applications. The announcement was made during this year's EWEA conference in Brussels.

VENTOS® is a family of computational tools for solving complex fluid equations which are used in combination with high-quality onsite measurements to predict wind conditions that will occur at each turbine location of a proposed wind farm. This allows turbines to be sited in areas of complex terrain and forestry at locations appropriate to their design and helps to provide accurate predictions of their long term energy yield.

The R&D program will focus on key areas of immediate interest to the wind energy industry including; non-neutral atmospheric flows, turbine wakes and forestry. Oisin Brady, Director at Natural Power France commented: “Natural Power has long been at the forefront of providing well-validated siting services in complex and forested terrain to the wind industry, through the use of tools such as VENTOS. This research and development agreement will considerably extend the scope of these services, and therefore the value we can deliver to our clients.”

Peter Stuart, Technical Manager at the RES Group commented: "For ten years VENTOS has proved an invaluable tool at RES, and over time we have come to understand that, like all wind flow models, there are opportunities to develop the code further. This joint venture will help to expand the envelope within which VENTOS can successfully operate, reducing the errors in our predictions and ultimately leading to better sited wind turbines and more accurate predictions of their yields.”  

The program builds upon twenty years of research at FEUP and many years of collaboration with RES and Natural Power.

"This research and development agreement will considerably extend the scope of these [VENTOS] services, and therefore the value we can deliver to our clients." - Oisin Brady, Director of Natural Power France