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US-based Sunairio has launched a software program with high-resolution historical climate data and high-resolution future climate models that enables insight into site-specific risks. It recently raised venture capital to expand its software targeting solar and wind portfolios into new markets. US software company Sunairio has developed a modelling platform that is said to offer more accurate tools for grid reliability planning and portfolio management support for owners and operators of utility-scale solar and wind farms. Its high-resolution historical climate data and high-resolution future climate simulations provide insight into site-specific weather and reliability risks. The higher resolution claim applies to spatial resolution, measured down to 50-meter resolution, frequency of extreme weather events, and temporal resolution, which provides hour-by-hour views and views from 5 days to 15 years. “Weather datasets typically span less than 20 years, which is inadequate for modelling risks such as extreme weather events or accounting for the effects of climate change,” Rob Cirincione, CEO of Sunairio, tells pv magazine . “Quantifying risks requires high-resolution climate data that extends “further into the past” than the data and models currently used in the energy sector, as well as the “intelligence of global climate models” in projecting the future. Conventional models for solar, for example, typically reduce variability to an annual average. “It wasn’t as important when renewables from wind and solar accounted for just 5% of all energy sources, but that’s changing,” he explained. Understanding these risks has a “real impact on revenue and grid reliability,” Cirincione stressed. According to Sunairio, the software integrates with existing energy models and combines “generative artificial intelligence” and advanced statistics to predict weather patterns and climate trends. It is not, however, a short-term forecasting tool, nor is it used for day-ahead time horizons. “Modeling grid risk requires a nuanced understanding of climate risk. Sunairio’s commercial-ready grid modeling solutions provide the practical tools needed to account for weather variability and climate trends as the integration of renewable energy generation accelerates,” said Sunairio investor Alex Behar of Buoyant Ventures in a statement. Typical customers interested in using Sunairios probabilistic models are utility-scale developers, energy traders, and reliability organizations such as utilities and independent system operators. The company has just announced a new project with Xcel Energy, a Minnesota-based company with 40 wind and solar farms across the state of Colorado. The project aims to improve the accuracy and increase the granularity of weather data used in grid planning in order to anticipate future energy variability and ensure grid reliability. Sunaiario has worked with Constellation, a Maryland-based power company, to help analyze its growing off-site renewable energy portfolio, and has also completed work with Texas-based Leeward Renewable Energy. Meanwhile, Constellations venture capital arm became an investor in Sunairios recent $6.4 million venture capital round. All investors were American: Buoyant Ventures, Constellation Technology Ventures, MassMutual Ventures Climate Tech Fund and Rosecliff Ventures. With this investment, Sunairio has raised a total of $8.8 million since its founding in 2020. The new capital will be used to expand its coverage of the US market in certain regions of the energy market and to strengthen its team. |
