Software to map a wind of change

Canberra Times
Monday 27/8/2007 Page: 11

As the climate change debate heats up there is no better time than now to be a software company that develops award-wining renewable energy technology. Formed in 2003 thanks to funding from the CSIRO and Epicorp, Canberra-based Windlab Systems has created software tools to improve the efficiency of wind farms.

Tools that find windy areas and then discover the windiest parts of those areas may not sound like much, but they play a crucial role in developing ideal wind-generation sites across the globe. They also enable users to calculate energy yields and turbine layouts, and assess how wind farms will appear in the environment, before full-scale planning begins.

Chief executive Mark Sinclair said Windlab's work was important because it enabled wind energy to better compete with more traditional forms of energy. "We aim to find the best wind resource site in conjunction with all the other constraints that go around building wind farms,'' Mr Sinclair said. "By reducing the risk and getting a better wind resource, we're in effect reducing the cost of that project and increasing the energy that comes out of it at the end of the day."

He said that reduced the time it takes to get such projects to market. "Ultimately, that increases the opportunity to get renewable energy into the system earlier, which has environmental benefits.'' As a renewable source of energy, wind energy enabled electricity to be generated without carbon dioxide emissions. It was the fastest growing energy technology globally and had rapidly expanded in Australia over the last few years.

But Mr Sinclair said compared with the rest of the world, Australia did not have a particularly vibrant renewable energy industry. "Nonetheless, there are some great ideas in Australia and the technology that came out of CSIRO and formed Windlab was one that has been successfully commercialised,'' he said.

Windlab Systems raised $5 million from venture capital last week to expand internationally. It has projects secured in Canada as well as partnerships in South Africa and China. The company is also planning to move into the rapidly growing Indian and South American renewable energy markets. Windlab had a turnover of about $2 million last year. Mr Sinclair said the company planned to increase that by 50 per cent a year.