Research project WindRamp II
Observer-supported very short-term output prediction of large offshore wind farm clusters for system integration and grid stabilisation
The increasing share of fluctuating wind and solar feed-in is one of the central challenges in the transformation of our energy systems. To ensure grid stability, supply and demand must be balanced at all times. This is supported, among other things, by power forecasts that have been successfully used operationally for several years. In particular, the offshore sector with its high spatial concentration of installed wind energy capacity requires a precise estimation of future ramp events, i.e., significant changes in feed-in within a short time. Against this backdrop, the WindRamp II research project, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, aims at the scientific extension of the observer-supported very short-term forecast for wind farm clusters and their integration into the energy system.
Research project WindRamp II | |
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Duration | May 2024 to April 2027 |
Funded by | Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy |
Project participants | - Institute of Networked Energy Systems
- University of Oldenburg (ForWind)
- Energy & meteo systems GmbH
- RWE Offshore GmbH
associated: |
Especially grid operators and electricity traders need a probabilistic view of what is coming when in the event of ramp events – in other words, a high degree of "Situational Awareness". At the same time, sufficient lead time is needed, for example, to be able to react by means of trading on the intraday market or redispatch measures. The XXL-lidar technology researched in the predecessor project WindRamp I, which has an exceptionally long range of around 25 kilometres, offers promising perspectives. Therefore, an XXL-Lidar prototype is planned to be installed in the offshore wind farm "Amrumbank West" (approximately 35 kilometres northwest of Helgoland) within WindRamp II. In view of the necessary further offshore deployment with even larger wind energy turbines, the methodological extension of the very short-term forecast for future wind farms with very large rotors and heterogeneous wind farm clusters (for example, with turbines of different hub heights and rotor diameters as well as complex wake situations) is needed.
The Institute of Networked Energy Systems is investigating in the WindRamp II project how the system integration of offshore wind energy can be improved by means of stochastic dispatch optimisation. In stochastic dispatch optimisation, which is based on numerical weather forecasts for the following day as well as on lidar very short-term forecasts for intraday, the uncertainty of the weather forecast is explicitly taken into account in grid operation management. In this way, network-critical conditions such as the reduction of wind energy and the use of expensive control energy can be reduced. The electricity system is simulated for Germany with about 30 nodes. In addition to wind energy, photovoltaics and power from conventional power plants are also simulated. The possibility of feeding stored renewable electricity into the grid at times of high forecast uncertainty is being investigated as part of the flexibilisation of the power grid.
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