Whiffle, a Delft University of Technology spin-off, has successfully developed cutting-edge technology for highly accurate, localised weather forecasting. Thanks to a €3 million capital injection from impact investors ENERGIIQ and SHIFT Invest, the company will now be able to expand and achieve rapid growth. Global leaders in the renewable energy sector are already using Whiffle’s model.
The funding will enable the company to expand and achieve rapid growth.
Optimised by artificial intelligence and machine learning, Whiffle is the world’s first operational weather model based on Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The calculations of the weather model are run on graphic processing units (GPUs), allowing local turbulence and underlying processes and conditions in the atmosphere to be captured in greater detail.
The company can therefore provide its customers with very fast and accurate weather forecasts that account for various factors such as the local effects of hills, buildings and wind turbines. The model offers great opportunities in different areas, from aviation to agriculture and from shipping to better air pollution forecasting.
Whiffle CEO Harmen Jonker says: “We can use this investment to further grow the company and bring our weather model to market in a number of sectors. In recent years, we have been working hard to refine the technology and make it easy for customers to use. We are now seeing a significant increase in commercial interest. This investment will allow us to expand even faster and continue to improve our model in the coming years.”
Whiffle is currently focusing on the renewable energy market. The highly advanced weather model makes renewable energy production more predictable. More accurate weather forecasting lowers imbalance prices for energy companies, for example, which has a direct effect on their margins. The model can also be used to optimise the configuration of wind farms and better predict future energy yields. This could result in higher yields and lower financing costs. Weather forecasts and wind simulations are of crucial importance to various players in the sector, including energy traders, wind farm owners, and developers.
