We will be exhibiting at the WindDays in Rotterdam, June 12-13 2019. Do you want to shape a wind farm and immediately see the visual impact? Come visit us at stand 22.

Looking forward to meeting you!

Conference

We will take part in the conference. Please join us in the discussion (in Dutch) ‘Participatie: het containerbegrip ontrafeld’.

Participation…a word that is most commonly used in onshore wind projects. But what are we actually talking about? In this session, we will search for the answer.

Three speakers will highlight the subject from four different perspectives:

Pure Energie – Michiel Oppenhuizen
Bossche Energe Cooperatie – Joep Mol
Windplanner – Maaike van Heeren
Gemeente Coevorden – Jeroen Huizing

Trade Fair

At our stand, you can try Windplanner yourself.

Shape your wind park in a photorealistic 3D environment. Try out different positions and variables such as day, night, shadow impact and wind direction. Adjust turbine brand, hub height, rotor diameter, color, and lighting. And immediately see the visual impact.

Check out what it will look like, from any viewpoint!

Checklist

Information events or community consultations are important milestones in the project when it comes to interaction with residents. It takes quite some preparation to organize an effective event.

Bear in mind: thorough preparation determines 90% of the success! Making a script and updating it during the preparation will help to reach your goals.

Below is a list of tips to help in making your event successful.

Step 1: The WHY of the event

What is the goal of the information event?
Who will be invited?
What is your message?
What do you want the visitors to remember?
Which information can you share?
Be clear about the preconditions of the project, and what you do not know yet.
What input do you want from the visitors?

Step 2: Plan the event

Will you have a set program, or can visitors come and go when they want?
Do not plan during holidays or during big local/national events.
Will you have several sessions? Plan also one in the afternoon.
Make a list of potential reactions/questions, and what your position/answer is.
Arrange for enough specialists to answer all types of questions.
Will you organize break-out sessions:? Max 10 residents per table, 1 facilitator and 1 reporter works well (lay out markers, post-its, and a flip-over)
Plan what atmosphere you want to create and what drinks/bites fit.
Do you want the press to be present?

Step 3: Invite residents

When will you send out the invitations? Make sure you also send a reminder 1-2 days ahead of the event.
What media will you use to spread the invitation?
What is your message on the invitation?
Do you want visitors to register in advance? Will you, and how will you track the entries?

Step 4: The event itself

Put the residents at the heart of the event.
Do you want visitors to register?
Make sure it is clear for the visitors who the host is.
Make sure all visitors can voice their opinion.
Be open to all questions and suggestions.
Take fear and resistance seriously.
Will you report about this event? Make sure all visitors either leave their contact details or know where to find information on the internet.
Consider to get input via digital tools (such as the stakeholder engagement platform), so you will also reach people outside this event.

Step 5: Follow-up

How are you going to keep the visitors engaged? Newsletters? Online platform?
Will you organize a follow-up event?
Will there be a resident panel? How can they sign up for it?
Make sure visitors know what the (rough) planning is.

Windplanner: experts in visual impact

We regularly support resident meetings, as a neutral expert party. This means: we are not in favor, we are not against, we only show exactly what the visual impact of the plan is on the living environment. In this way, the local residents get a clear picture of what the plan will actually look like. And the initiators or related municipality have ‘their hands free’ to have substantive conversations with all visitors.

Do it yourself, or we visualize for you

Windplanner is available as a subscription if you want to plan and visualize your wind and solar projects yourself. Alternatively, we can visualize your project for you. If we visualize the project for you, you can still try out different variables yourself, such as day, night, shadow impact and wind direction.

Do you need a visualization for your project? Fast, accurate at low cost? Then let us know!

Yes! Windplanner can accelerate my projects

Never a dull moment in our team! A quick update from our side about new features and services:

StreetView

It is now possible to generate a higher quality StreetView picture in Windplanner.

You can change the StreetView quality in Windplanner as follows: Edit →Settings →Pro Settings →scroll down to the StreetView quality option.

Please note: A higher quality panorama will cause longer loading time.

Sketch Layer

With the sketch layer, you can draw on the 2D map. You can draw dots, lines or polygons on your 2D map, for example to indicate some important objects, elements, boundaries, etc. in your planning area. See the example in the pictures below.

Improved models and shadows

We have improved the look and feel of all turbine models. In addition to that, we have changed the way turbines receive shadow impact during the course of the day. So now Windplanner shows more realism in day/night simulation.

Satellite imagery

You can choose the optimal satellite layer at your specific location. To change this layer, you go to Layers →World layers → World image layer.

Bug fixes

Day and time settings are now properly saved in viewpoints.
Images in KMZ layers will now display correctly.
StreetView fallback if there is no panorama found at the set quality level.New – StreetView panoramas have a new tiling method, so you might have experienced some trouble with loading those panoramas. With the new update, you will not experience this issue anymore.

Please take a look at our customer reviews

Find out why our customers use Windplanner during their project development. Get ready to be inspired!

www.windplanner.com/reviews

If you are interested in our services, please contact us!

Ten reasons why

Windplanner adds to the success of your wind project. We’ll give you 10 reasons to convince you, or your colleagues:

10 reasons why

A quick update about new features in Windplanner, and our related services:

Turbine design in Windplanner
We have taken a new step in creating realistic visualizations (and, by the way, we will take a few additional steps in the near future). Now, all turbines in Windplanner have a new, more realistic look and feel. Below, you see the new design on the left and the old design on the right:

New turbines in our catalogue
We continuously add new 3D models to our catalogue. We recently added the following models:
Enercon E-115/E126/E138 – EP3
Vestas V136/V150
GE 2.5/3.4
Nordex N149/N131

Go check them out in the Windplanner application.

To do so, you go to Edit – Turbines – 3D models – New preset – choose Make & model. And you can see the Enercon EP3 in the animation below:

Solar in Windplanner

We have introduced a new feature in Windplanner. Wind and sun are a logic combination in energy-transition. So now, it is also possible to plan and visualize your solar park (PV system) in Windplanner.

Screenshot of a solarfield seen from the 3D world in Windplanner

With the solarplanner you can:

– Modify your photovoltaic modules, frame settings and spacing between the arrays.

– Change the color of the photovoltaic modules.

– Check out the reflection of the sun on the photovoltaic modules.

– See the installed capacity in KWp and amount of arrays and solar panels.

– See the plan in 3D (see above) and in a panoramic photo (see below).

Currently, we are developing the following functionalities for solar:

– Mitigating measures

– Planning in hilly regions

Streetview screenshot of solar and wind visualized with Windplanner

Currently, this feature is in beta. Normal subscription rate for the solar module will be €75 per month. For beta users, there is a discount of 25%.

Virtual solar tour

If you would like a high-quality visualization with mitigating measures or hilly terrain, we can help you too. With our sister company The Imagineers, we can create the visualization for you. Anywhere in the world, with the mitigating measures you require. Here, you can find an example of a virtual solar tour. You can switch between the current and future situation, and see alternative shrubs.

Intersted in solar? Come say hello!

Come to visit IX Wind at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 1 K0829 and find out how IX Wind and Windplanner can help you with their expertise.

During the expo, you can win a one-year subscription for Windplanner.
The Energy Taiwan Forum is from 19 till 21 September in Taipei.

For more information, please contact IX Wind:

+886 2 8729 9193
taiwan@ixwind.com
www.ixwind.com

WINDENERGY HAMBURG – 25 – 28 September

The Windplanner team will be present at the WindEnergy expo! Come visit us and find out how we can help you in early stage planning of wind farms and stakeholder engagement. You can find us at the Dutch Pavilion Hall B7 – Booth 470.02.

Maaike van Heeren Tedde Langhout Ronald de Vries Ernest Dik - Windplanner at WindEurope Hamburg

Tedde Langhout, Maaike van Heeren, Ronald de Vries, Ernest Dik

Do you want a demonstration?

You can book a timeslot here. We look forward to meeting you!

What’s new in Windplanner

Shapefiles and kmz files import
It is now possible to upload your shape- and kmz files into Windplanner.

A shapefile usually encloses a minimum of 3 files: vector data (.shp), coordinate data (.prj) and generic data (.dbf). You can import the .zip containing these files, and ensure the right coordinate system is applied.

A kmz file consists of a number of files, often generated from Google Earth. Windplanner will import the information from the files, and this custom layer will appear in the 2D map.

Photo upload service
If you import a panorama photo, it needs to be georeferenced and calibrated. Also, you sometimes have to mask the surroundings to create the correct display of the turbines. Practice makes perfect, we know. However, if you don’t have the time to do it yourself, you can outsource this action to us. Just deliver us your stitched panorama photo, and we will upload a perfectly calibrated and masked photo into your project. With this service, you will save time and you are 100% sure about the reliability of the photo in Windplanner.

Book your personal demo at Wind Energy Expo Hamburg 2018
We will be exhibiting at WindEnergy Hamburg from 25 – 28 September 2018. You can find us at the Dutch Village, B7.470.02, close to the bar 😉

Are you interested in getting your personal demonstration? You can schedule your Windplanner demonstration here.

Fred. Olsen, welcome!

MVGLA demonstrated Windplanner at All Energy on the 2-3 May at the SEC in Glasgow. The prize draw for one year’s subscription to Windplanner was won by Finley Becks-Phelps of Fred. Olsen.

Finley Becks Phelps wins Windplanner subscription

Finley said: “I am absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to use Windplanner, very pleased to have won your competition. I am the New Sites Manager here at Fred. Olsen Renewables and look forward to utilising it in early wind farm planning. Allowing early involvement from local communities and consultees to make sure that we design projects that work for everyone, allowing the program to demonstrate key viewpoints and illustrate the development process over and above normal practices.”