windaz

Windaz is an open-source wind energy modeling platform designed to simulate wind flow around turbines and urban environments. It integrates meteorological data, turbine performance models, and computational fluid dynamics methods to help engineers optimize siting, design, and operation of wind projects.

First released in 2015 by a consortium of researchers from several universities and a nonprofit institute, Windaz began with basic wake-modeling modules and simple steady-state simulations. It has since evolved into a modular framework that supports advanced turbulence models and data pipelines.

Key features include wind field generation from weather data, turbine wake interaction, power output estimation, site suitability analysis, and visualization tools. The software supports common data formats such as NetCDF and CSV and provides APIs for Python usage as well as a browser-based dashboard.

Windaz is used by energy developers for site assessment and optimization, by researchers investigating wind physics, and by urban planners evaluating micro-siting in complex terrain or built environments. It accommodates utility-scale, distributed, and research wind projects alike.

While praised for openness and extensibility, Windaz requires substantial computing resources for high-fidelity simulations and benefits from some background in CFD and numerical modeling. The project is maintained by an international community of volunteers and contributors under an open-source license, with governance decisions made transparently through regular discussions.