Reliable power forecasts for the largest solar parks in the world

For the secure integration of solar parks on a gigawatt scale, grid operators need particularly accurate predictions of power generation. The German-based company energy & meteo systems is already forecasting the generation capacity of large parts of several gigawatt parks and has now also acquired operators of the world's second largest solar park Pavagada in India as customers.

Oldenburg (Germany), 29 June 2020 – In the sunny south of India, the Pavagada solar park covers a remarkable area of 53 square kilometers or 7,420 soccer fields. With a total output of around two gigawatts, the park currently ranks second place among the world's largest solar parks. Various operators are responsible for individual sections of the park. Since the beginning of 2020, the service-provider energy & meteo systems has been forecasting the power generation of this park for the companies Tata and SB Energy – two of the largest operators of the park, which together are responsible for around 700 megawatts of plant capacity. With this share of Pavagada solar park, energy & meteo systems now provides reliable forecasts for operators of five of the six largest solar parks in the world. These include the current leader in Bhadla, India, with a total output of around 2.2 gigawatts. For the company Greenko, predictions are delivered for its 500 megawatts capacity in the world's 6th largest solar park Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh, India, with a total installed capacity of 1,000 megawatts.

Solar park Kurnool © Greenko

Three of the six largest solar parks are located in India, all with rated outputs in the gigawatt range. In order to safely integrate such powerful photovoltaic power plants into the power grids, grid operators need particularly reliable power generation forecasts. These must not only take into account the local weather, but also the local and technical characteristics of the respective plant. Inaccurate forecasts endanger the security of the electricity supply. After all, if grid operators do not react quickly enough to unforeseen fluctuations in the grid, the electricity networks of entire regions can collapse.

More precise than the competition

In India, the operators of solar parks are therefore obliged to have their own generation forecasts made and to transmit them to the grid operators. There are penalties if actual power generation deviates from the forecasts and these have been published online. This shows which providers supply the best forecasts. "In India we can see in direct comparison with competitors that our forecasts are among the most accurate," says Ulrich Focken, Managing Director and co-founder of energy & meteo systems. "We are delighted to achieve such good results despite the challenging tropical weather conditions. Even the monsoon is less of a problem than we thought."

energy & meteo systems currently forecasts around 40 percent of the solar energy capacity installed worldwide and around 50 percent of the wind energy capacity installed worldwide. More than 20 international transmission system operators rely on the forecasts of energy & meteo systems.