The way the wind blows

Meteorologists are treading new territory. The energy industry needs weather forecasts tailored to their specific needs. It is the only way that they can estimate how much power will be generated by Germany’s 20,000 wind turbines and fed into the grid. Energy & Meteo, a company that specializes in meteorology for energy providers, has developed a system that forecasts wind farms’ power output. The solution delivers wind forecasts for Germany and Europe – up to four days in advance and with up to 15-minute accuracy. To achieve this, meteorologists leverage diverse European weather forecasting models. “As a result, we can avoid major and extremely costly forecasting errors,” explains physicist Dr. Ulrich Focken, Managing Director and cofounder of Energy & Meteo. “Each model has its strengths and weaknesses, depending on the particular weather conditions. We combine this data to produce a considerably more accurate wind forecast.” Energy meteorologists already provide information to major German players such as RWE, Eon, Vattenfall and EnBW, as well as utilities in Ireland, the United States and Australia.

T-City

Friedrichshafen is a pioneer in the field of smart grids. Regional utility TWF, Deutsche Telekom and ABB are implementing a corresponding solution in two parts of the city. It is designed to synchronize fluctuating demand and power supply. Around 2000 smar t meters will be installed in households in the districts of Oberhof and Windhag. On the generation side there are multiple combined heat and power plants, a fuel cell facility, around 20 solar panel stations and three hydroelectric plants. Again, Deutsche Telekom, ABB and TWF will be providing the corresponding ICT technology. “This way the relationship between consumption and demand is always transparent and we can align them with one another”, says Stefan Söchtig, director of the T-City program and CEO at TWF. Insights gained with the pilot project will be leveraged in future initiatives.