Parametric Insurance

Protect your wind farm against low-wind years

WindSure is an index-based insurance product that automatically compensates wind energy producers when wind yield falls below expectations. No damage needed. No claim process. Just protection.

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45days

From period end to payout

80+yr

ERA5 historical wind data

0 adjusters

Fully automatic settlement

The Problem

The biggest risk to your wind farm isn't equipment failure

It's a year where the wind doesn't blow. Traditional insurance covers physical damage — but the most common and most costly risk is revenue loss from below-average wind conditions.

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Revenue Volatility

A 100 MW onshore farm generating ~EUR 28M annually can lose EUR 2.5–3.0M in a low-wind year (P90 scenario). That's a 10–15% shortfall with no physical trigger — invisible to your existing insurance programme.

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Debt Covenant Stress

Project-finance structures run on thin DSCR margins (1.2–1.4×). A single weak wind year can breach covenants, trigger cash sweeps, lock dividends, and erode lender confidence — even when every turbine is running perfectly.

No Conventional Solution

Property all-risks and BI policies require physical damage. OTC wind derivatives carry margin calls. Generic weather indices create unacceptable basis risk. There's a gap — and WindSure fills it.

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Merchant Exposure Growth

As feed-in tariffs expire across Europe, more wind farms face merchant price risk on top of volume risk. Without PPA protection, volume shortfalls hit twice as hard.

How It Works

Simple, transparent, automatic

WindSure pays when the wind doesn't blow — measured by an independent index, settled without adjusters.

01 — INDEX

ERA5 Wind Index

We build a site-specific capacity factor index from ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis data, calibrated to your farm's turbine configuration and local wind conditions.

02 — STRIKE

Trigger Level

The strike is set at the capacity factor level where your cash flow becomes stressed — typically P75–P85. Below this, the payout activates.

03 — MEASURE

Period Ends

At the end of each coverage period, the calculation agent computes the observed index from publicly available ERA5 data. No dispute, no subjectivity.

04 — PAY

Automatic Settlement

If the index is below the strike, payout is calculated automatically and transferred within 45–60 days. No claim form. No negotiation.

Payout Structure

Transparent mechanics, predictable outcomes

Payout Formula

Payout = min( PayoutRate × max( Strike − ActualIndex , 0 ) , MaxPayout )

Example Parameters

Installed capacity100 MW

Long-term avg. CF (P50)32%

Strike level28% (≈P80)

Exhaustion level22% (≈P99)

Payout rate€500k / p.p.

Maximum payout€3,000,000

Scenario: Observed CF = 25%

€1,500,000

Automatic payout

Calculation: (28% − 25%) × €500,000 = €1,500,000. Paid within 45–60 days of period end. No claim process, no loss adjuster.

The Index

Built on ERA5 — the gold standard in wind data

The WindSure index is derived from ECMWF's ERA5 reanalysis dataset — an independent, publicly available, and globally recognised source of atmospheric data. Then calibrated precisely to your site.

Site-Specific Calibration

Select the ERA5 grid cell(s) nearest to the wind farm location
Extract hourly wind speeds at hub height across the full historical record
Apply your site's turbine power curve with air-density corrections
Calibrate against on-site data (met mast, LiDAR, or operational records) via quantile mapping
Validate out-of-sample correlation — target R² > 0.85 on annual basis
Define the long-term reference baseline from the calibrated series

This transforms a generic gridded dataset into a bespoke site-level index. Where complex terrain limits correlation, the product structure is adjusted to account for additional basis risk.

ECMWF ERA5

Resolution0.25° grid, hourly

Hub height100m wind estimates

History1940 – present

SourceCopernicus CDS

Publication lag~5 days

CostFree & public

IndependenceNeither party controls data

Both insured and insurer can independently verify every index calculation. Full transparency eliminates disputes.

Why WindSure

Compared to the alternatives

Feature	WindSure	Traditional BI	OTC Wind Derivatives	Generic Weather Index
Trigger	Production index	Physical damage	Wind speed	Wind speed
Covers low-wind years	✓	✕	✓	✓
Basis risk	Low (site-calibrated)	None (indemnity)	Medium–High	High
Settlement speed	45–60 days	6–12 months	Monthly	Monthly
Multi-year terms	1–5 years	Annual	Typically < 1 year	1–3 years
Accounting	Insurance (IFRS 17)	Insurance	Derivative (IFRS 9)	Varies
Collateral required	None	None	Yes (margin calls)	Possibly

Use Cases

Designed for every stage of the wind asset lifecycle

Project Finance

DSCR Protection

Protect debt-service coverage ratios and prevent covenant breaches during low-wind years. Structure as a condition precedent to financing or add as credit enhancement during operations.

Merchant Exposure

Volume Stabilisation

For farms without long-term PPAs, WindSure stabilises the volume component of revenue — freeing you to focus risk management on price hedging alone.

Portfolio

Multi-Site Coverage

Portfolio operators and renewable funds can cover multiple sites under a single policy, benefiting from geographic diversification through a weighted-average index.

Repowering

Transition Protection

Older farms undergoing repowering or life extension face heightened yield uncertainty. WindSure bridges the financial gap when lenders and investors are most sensitive.