We are creating some awesome events for you. Kindly bear with us.

Australian Renewable Energy Agency looking to improve short-term wind and solar forecasting

Australian Renewable Energy Agency looking to improve short-term wind and solar forecasting

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is seeking
expressions of interest for projects to trial short-term forecasting from
large-scale wind and solar farms across Australia.
On behalf of the Australian Government, ARENA is committing
up to A$10 million funding to improve ‘5-minute ahead’ forecasts for wind and
solar farms operating in the National Electricity Market (NEM).
In partnership with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), ARENA is seeking to demonstrate wind
and solar farms can provide more accurate forecasts of their output into AEMO’s
central dispatch system. AEMO is responsible for operating Australia’s largest
gas and electricity markets and power systems, including the NEM, the
interconnected power system in Australia’s eastern and south-eastern seaboard
and the Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM) and power system in Western
Australia.
Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are
intermittent and the output varies depending on the weather and time of day. Integrating
these sources into electricity grids while balancing demand and supply requires
forecasting. At the moment, wind and solar farms can be disadvantaged if their
available output doesn’t match the central forecast. If the forecasts are too
low, wind and solar farms are restricted in how much electricity they can paid
to produce. If forecasts are too high, the wind or solar farm may be obliged to
pay for the cost of stabilising, which increases the price of electricity and
is ultimately passed on.
At present, AEMO is responsible for forecasting how much
electricity will be generated by wind and solar farms. As a part of this trial,
wind and solar farms will be able to submit their own forecasts to AEMO. This
will allow local measurements to be combined with AEMO’s modelling to improve
the overall accuracy.
ARENA is seeking proposals for projects that will deliver
‘5-minute ahead’ forecasts, explore the commercial benefits to wind and solar
farms of investing in forecasting technology and examine factors that affect
the accuracy of forecasts in different weather, operational conditions and
geographies.
It is looking for expressions of interest in relation to
utility-scale wind and solar, including from generators, forecasting technology
companies and turbine and solar panel manufacturers. Proposals may include
multiple generators and forecasting technologies.
This initiative, which originated in ARENA’s A-Lab
innovation workshop last year, is expected to allow wind and solar farms to be
better integrated into the grid while simultaneously improving grid security
and reducing energy costs.
ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said, “As more variable
renewables enter the market, we need to improve the accuracy of our short-term
forecasts so we can anticipate what will happen as a cloud passes over a solar
farm or if the winds change.”
“We are hoping this initiative – which brings together wind
and solar farms with forecasting technology companies and manufacturers – will
change how forecasts for variable renewable energy are used in the electricity
market,” Mr Frischknecht added.
AEMO Managing Director and CEO Audrey Zibelman said if
successful, this initiative would be another step forward in strategically
integrating renewable generation into the National Electricity Market.
Ms Zibelman said, “Accurate short-term forecasts are
essential for balancing supply and demand, and avoiding grid instability. If we
can more accurately predict demand and the output of all types of generation,
we expect this will reduce the need for additional frequency control services
in the future, which the market pays for.”
Expressions of Interest opened on 28 March 2018. Successful
applicants will be notified in June 2018 and invited to submit full
applications. Expressions of Interest will be open from 28 March 2018 until 9
May 2018 5pm AEST.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

PARTNER

CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

PARTNER

Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

PARTNER

HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

PARTNER

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

Send this to a friend