Case Study: Raising investor confidence with WakeMap

A client approached Veer with a portfolio of underperforming wind energy projects relative to their pre-construction energy production estimates that varied between X%-Y%.  The client’s main objective was to: 

• Improve internal energy estimate processes by identifying the source of underperformance 

• Set up a system that would improve energy estimate capabilities in the future  

• Improve the company’s financial performance through evidence-based investigation 

• Raise and maintain investor confidence for future renewable energy developments  

Veer was provided access to the relevant data for this analysis and noticed immediately that the most egregious underperforming projects were all cases where the wind farm had operated free of neighbours for a period and then had upwind neighbours installed, ranging from 5 to 30km upwind.  

Conventional wake loss tools used by the client indicated that wake impacts from neighbours was zero. Veer deployed WakeMap to simulate different scenarios for each project, one where the neighbours didn’t exist, and one where they did. From that, we can calculate wake losses, and using the fulsome dataset, we documented the decreased wind resource arising from neighbor wake impacts, and validated WakeMap findings at several wind farm locations.  

Our findings and where we landed

Incorporating external wake losses caused by neighboring wind farm developments reduced the client’s portfolio-wide energy estimate bias significantly—from approximately 8% to 4%. The impact of external wakes varied across individual sites, ranging from negligible (0%) to substantial (up to 8%) in densely developed regions. Leveraging this insight, the client enhanced their internal energy estimation processes and subscribed to WakeMap to refine external wake loss measurements across their portfolio. WakeMap proved to be a quick, efficient, and cost-effective solution for running in-house simulations, enabling confident and timely decision-making—critical for maintaining and resolving issues within their projects. As a scientifically grounded platform, WakeMap has become an invaluable tool in supporting the client’s success and their commitment to diversifying renewable energy sources.