4Cast GmbH & Co. KG unveils advanced long-term yield forecasts

Potsdam May/16/2024: With the introduction of long-term yield forecasts, 4Cast GmbH & Co KG, a company based in Potsdam, presents an advanced solution for the wind energy industry that promises a significant increase in efficiency in the development and planning of wind and solar farms.

The necessity of yield estimates in the planning process

Yield estimates require a wind farm planning process that has already started for a given area. You already expect specific layouts of wind turbines (WTG or WTG), i.e. which types are located in a wind farm.

Further ahead in the planning process is the site assessment. This involves answering the question as to whether planning for an area should be carried out in greater depth at all. Very simple rough calculations are used here, which do not take into account the shading of wind turbines from one another or legal requirements.

Wind assessments are required for financing in Germany. These are standardized in Technical Guideline 6, and their preparation takes some time due to many manual steps and currently long waiting lists.

Efficiency through automation

For planning explicitly in the areas of new construction, expansion and repowering, however, a low-threshold solution is required for the objectives of planners and project planners.

The automation of time-consuming calculation steps effectively shortens the assessment periods for yield forecasts.

While analysis times of 42 days and more are currently common due to the continuously increasing demand in the market, 4cast delivers the required results within 5-8 working days.

Detailed forecast for investment decisions

The holistic consideration of structural and site-related parameters leads to precise forecasts that serve as a reliable basis for investment decisions. The precision of the results achieved is the result of a thorough analysis of data such as terrain conditions, meteorological parameters and specific site characteristics.

Comprehensive services

In addition to the main functions of long-term yield forecasts, the new 4cast offering includes other additional services that support strategic project planning:

• Provision of historical time series of energy yields, including from reanalysis data, for the comprehensive evaluation of energy production over longer periods of time.
• Analysis of historical wind data sets to identify site-specific wind patterns.
• Estimation of yield losses when expanding or repowering existing assets.

The combination of depth of detail and speed makes the long-term yield forecast a valuable resource for players in the wind energy industry who want to base their project development on solid and comprehensive analyses.

Tailwind for wind energy planning

"Efficiency and precision are key factors for the planning and long-term success of wind energy projects," says Sascha Bauer, CEO of 4Cast GmbH & Co. "With our new solution, we support our customers in achieving these goals faster and optimizing their yield forecasts according to the latest scientific standards."