Veteran of 1,000 wind farm assessments uses Second Wind's Triton to map winds in Spain, Romania

La Rioja, Spain-based Barlovento Recursos Naturales is one of the renewable energy industry’s most respected technical consultancies. It has helped Spain become a renewable energy powerhouse – home to international wind farm developers and turbine manufacturers – by advising utilities and government agencies how to develop the country’s renewable resources. Some regions of Spain generate as much as 82 percent of their power from renewable resources.

Barlovento has assessed more than 1,000 wind farm sites all over the world, and is especially well known for its work in Latin America and Europe. The company is also a pioneer in the use of remote sensing technologies, using SODAR (Sonic Detection and Ranging) and LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) alongside tower-mounted sensors to create comprehensive profiles of wind speed, wind shear and veer.

Barlovento is a long-term Second Wind customer, purchasing Second Wind measurement devices as far back as 2001. The company purchased its first Triton unit in 2009, and recently added a second Triton. 

“Remote sensing gives us a much broader and deeper data set than we could collect with tower-mounted sensors alone,” said Barlovento founder Rafael Zubiaur. “Its accuracy provides a detailed profile of wind flow so we can forecast a site’s productivity and how factors like shear and veer may affect wind turbine performance.”

Barlovento has committed to Triton by training its staff to install and maintain the units. The company also takes advantage of Second Wind’s SkyServe® Satellite Wind Data Service®, which communicates wind data every 10 minutes, via Globalstar satellite, to a secure Web server and enables them to view and access their wind data online.

“When a highly respected force in renewable energy like Barlovento commits to Triton and remote sensing, that’s the ultimate vote of confidence,” said Colin France, Director of European Business at Second Wind. “Triton met Barlovento’s high standards for accuracy and reliability, and we’re looking forward to being a part of their future work to develop wind power resources all over the world.”