Wind energy is achieved by exploiting wind’s kinetic energy and converting it into electricity through the use of a wind turbine. The wind turbine consists mainly of a support base called the tower, a nacelle and rotor blades. The blades are designed and constructed for them to be set in motion by the wind; the rotor is connected to a main shaft, which in turn is connected to an electric power generator.

The renewable energy sector, and the wind sector in particular, is undergoing a phase of worldwide growth thanks to gradually falling investment costs, an increase in the demand for electricity, and an ever-increasing focus on issues relating to climate change and pollution.

There has been strong technological development in recent years, which has allowed increasingly high-performing wind turbines to be built, reducing the cost of the facilities and of the energy produced. Current research is moving toward increasingly large machines – both in terms of power and size – to capture even winds that are not very strong, in order to further reduce costs.

The development prospects indicate that power production from wind energy will play a major role in the field of renewable sources: The European Union forecasts that the EU's electricity consumption in 2020 will be 34% covered by renewable sources and around 12% by wind energy alone.

For several years, Alerion has been involved in a project to forecast the production of wind farms in the short to medium term, a key topic given the latest regulations on the dispatch of non-programmable renewable sources. The application developed – already tested on Alerion plants – combines the use of advanced meteorological models, computational fluid dynamics tools and statistical analyses to convert the expected primary source into energy that could be potentially produced. Alerion uses the information obtained in plant management both to fulfill the dispatching requirements and to optimize the operating and maintenance activities.