The California Independent System Operator Corporation’s (California ISO) announced AWS Truewind as the winner of the year-long forecasting competition this month.

Of the three companies that responded to the challenge, AWS Truewind provided the most accurate and cost effective information, showing a 20 percent improvement over current wind forecasting accuracy. The competing companies were required to submit 12-month forecasts for three of the California’s wind markets, covering both day-ahead and hour-ahead time frames.

“The California ISO has unique wind power forecasting requirements,” said Ken Pennock, AWS Truewind’s Forecasting Business Manager. “Our flexible and results-driven approach to power forecasting is what led to the notable accuracy improvement. We look forward to continuing our work with the California ISO team to help them realize their goal of reliably integrating more renewables into their system.”

With over 15,000 MW of operational wind projects in its forecasting portfolio and an experienced team of forecasting experts, AWS Truewind is well prepared for the task at hand. The company will be employing a new customized numerical weather prediction (physics-based) model to provide forecasts for use in grid operations and serve as the foundation for the Participating Intermittent Resource Program (PIRP), which integrates wind power into ISO markets.

“More than 3,000 megawatts of wind generation is connected to the grid right now,” said ISO Director of System Operations Debi LeVine.  “Monitoring intermittent wind production closely keeps the grid in balance and the lights on.  With wind resources expected to double over the next five years or so, accurate forecasting is imperative to maximize these new green resources.”

This one-of-a-kind competition was designed specifically for the improvement of the power grid, in order to integrate fluctuating wind power, as wind resources are expected to double over the next five years. With its increased accuracy, the forecasting data provided by AWS Truewind will help the ISO better manage the growing needs of this market.

Learn more about AWS Truewind’s eWind^® forecasting service.