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Meteosim will produce an atlas of wind power resources in Catalonia

By 6 July 2004November 18th, 2020No Comments
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 06.07.2004

Meteosim will produce an atlas of wind power resources in Catalonia

The company Meteosim, a spin-off from the Universitat de Barcelona located in the Parc Científic de Barcelona (PCB, Barcelona Science Park), in collaboration with the Meteorological Service of Catalonia and the Catalan Institute of Energy, has been appointed by the Dept. of the Environment of the Generalitat (Autonomous Government) to draw up an atlas of wind power resources in this region. This new atlas aims to facilitate the accurate evaluation of wind power potential in the region and to identify sites of high potential for the development of new projects. This information will be extremely useful for the Generalitat, promoters of wind parks and other interested parties.


According Joan Aymamí, the director of , “a more detailed atlas of wind power in Catalonia will allow us to identify the most promising zones for the development of wind parks; in this regard the new atlas will be a complementary tool to ensure the correct ranking of the region for this energy source”. At present, 87MW are installed in Catalonia, which account for only 1% of the more that 60000 MW of wind power generated in Spain. “The generation of electricity from wind power in Catalonia will, however, increase considerably in the coming years”, explained Joan Aymamí.

To carry out this project, Meteosim, a company specialized in the prediction of energetic production for parks and the study of wind resources, will use MesoMapTM technology. Through a simulation model of atmospheric dynamics, together with meteorological and topological data, MesoMapTM will produce maps of mean wind speed, wind power density, wind map and direction distribution. This technology will provide the atlas with a wind flow spatial resolution of 200 m and will also allow a detailed study of offshore wind energy along the Catalan coast.

MesoMapTM, the most advanced system available for assessing wind energy, will also allow the simulation of almost all meteorological phenomena close to the surface that determine wind patterns. For example, it provides a calculation of local circulations caused by temperature differences between land and sea (marine and land brises), the effect of channelling through mountain passes, the flow of cold air from mountains into valleys or temperature inversions, among other phenomena. Since its introduction, this system has been used in more than 25 countries distributed in five continents.