Vestas Wind system, the world’s largest wind energy company, needed to find good wind turbine locations that would optimize energy output and maximize return on investment. IBM’s Smart Analytics groups found the solution in its Biglnsights software and “Firestorm” supercomputer (capable of 150 trillion calculations per second). The IBM system pinpoints the best turbine placements by analyzing massive amounts of data, such as weather reports, tidal phases, geospatial and sensor data, satellite images, deforestation maps, and weather modeling research. Such analysis used to take weeks. But thanks to IBM’s smart solution, it can now be done in less than one hour. Once a turbine is operational, engineers at Vestas use the analytics system to predict its performance, analyze how each blade reacts to weather changes, and determine the best times to schedule maintenance.