AWS Truepower will receive $2.15 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The company will lead a team of several partners and work with DOE and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop, deploy, and manage a targeted observation campaign using advanced atmospheric measurements to be integrated using an ensemble of physics-based atmospheric models covering a broad area of Texas. NOAA will provide project support in the areas of instrument deployment and operation, data assimilation, and advanced forecast modeling.
The project will focus on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) territory. ERCOT manages the largest amount of wind power generation in the United States.
“We selected the ERCOT territory because it contains a sufficient number of wind farms and features characteristic weather phenomena that will facilitate transfer of the resulting work to other regions of the U.S.,” said John Manobianco, Director of Research and Technical Services at AWS Truepower and Principal Investigator for the project. “As the commercial forecast provider of record for ERCOT since 2008, and the lead wind resource consultant in defining ERCOT’s Competitive Renewable Energy Zones, we have a deep understanding of the region and believe that this project will enable us to develop a solution that will improve grid management and forecasting for the nation.”
As outlined in a recent announcement on the DOE website, the funding is intended to enable utilities and grid operators to more accurately forecast when and where electricity will be generated from wind power.
U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu said in a statement, “Wind power holds enormous potential to help reach our nation’s clean energy goals. Today’s awards will help better integrate wind energy into the electrical grid and will support the development of midsize wind turbines that can be used to provide renewable electricity in communities across the country.”
The AWS Truepower project team will include Texas Tech University, North Carolina State University, University of Oklahoma, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and consultants MESO, Inc., and ICF International.
“This award will make it possible to greatly improve wind forecasting technology and provide electricity grid operators with highly accurate forecasts, allowing them to predict and plan for the energy output of wind power plants in their systems,” said Dr. Bruce Bailey, President and CEO of AWS Truepower. “We commend the DOE’s support for clean wind energy technologies, which in the case of wind forecasting, will enable utilities to reliably deliver clean power and decrease their need for back-up energy sources.”
With over 17,000 MW of operational wind projects in its forecasting portfolio and an experienced team of forecasting experts, AWS Truepower is well prepared for the task. Learn more about AWS Truepowers’ forecasting services.