The most important new feature is the Spectral Correction (SC) method for extreme wind calculation; a new way to calculate extreme winds using on-site wind measurements
With the SC method, there is no need for the WAsP Engineering user to provide long-term wind data in order to calculate extreme winds. Instead, the SC method uses:
1. Short-term (around one year) on-site wind measurements provided by the user, and
2. Long-term reference wind data made available by DTU Wind Energy
Long-term reference wind data provided by DTU Wind Energy now cover Europe (incl. Turkey) and the USA. The WAsP Team will gradually expand coverage and expect to include China in 2016. Global coverage is expected in 2017.
The Spectral Correction method has been tested and validated by DTU Wind Energy and we have found that the method is both accurate and robust. A test and validation report will be published soon.
For more details, please refer to the following two articles published in the Journal of Wind Engineering & Industrial Aerodynamic:
• Recipes for correcting the impact of effective mesoscale resolution on the estimation of extreme Winds (2012)
• Application of the spectral correction method to reanalysis data in South Africa (2014)
Other improvements in WAsP Engineering 4.0 are:
• Vastly improved water fetch calculation speed
• More efficient use of flow model calculation runs, making calculations much faster
• The turbulent length scale is now limited to the IEC Standard value of 42 m
• Updated scripts
• Updated help file
• Bug fixes
Please note that WAsP Engineering 4.0 is distributed in a new WAsP Suite installer. WAsP Engineering licenses and upgrades can be purchased at the WAsP website.
If you do WAsP (not WAsP Engineering) calculations through windPRO, then you need to update your windPRO installation when you use the WAsP Suite installer for the first time. The latest windPRO installer will be available here.
WAsP Engineering is the industry-standard PC software for wind load parameter calculations and siting of wind turbines and wind farms.
WAsP Engineering can be used for sites located in flat to moderately complex terrain all over the world. It includes models and tools for every step in the process going from wind data analysis to calculations of the wind load parameters for a wind farm. Almost 1000 WAsP Engineering licenses have been sold to users in more than 50 countries.
Typical WAsP Engineering applications are:
• Calculations of wind load parameters for IEC site assessment, e.g. extreme wind, wind flow inclination, wind shear and ambient turbulence for wind turbines and wind farms (complete assessment also requires WAsP)
• Siting of wind turbines and wind farms
Further information about WAsP Engineering.