Workshop on the topic of forecasts for renewable energies
The goal of the workshop was to convey tried and tested practices in the area of renewable energies in the region.
The distribution grid operator DelSur and energy and meteo systems executed the second phase of the program DeveloPPP by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, which engages in the promotion of innovative projects in developing countries in order to bring medium and long-term advantages to society.
The second phase consists of the workshop "Good Practices for Predicting Wind and Solar Power in the Integration of Renewable Energy into the Power Grid", carried out by the German Agency for International Cooperation (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GIZ), energy & meteo systems and DelSur.
According to the managing director of the distribution grid operator, Roberto Gonzáles, "It is a beneficial project for the future of renewable energy in Central America. It is not enough to install plants or bring new investment and operators, but the systems have to be adapted to manage this type of energy production efficiently, not just at the distribution level, but this also concerns the rest of the operators and market stakeholders."
The Project
The project aims to support the introduction and development of renewable energies in the region by minimizing the impact of the fluctuating generation produced by the variability of wind and solar radiation.
The first phase of the project took place in February 2017, when on business trips to Panamá, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and México the current state of non-conventional renewable energy forecasting in Central America was analyzed. The results are an analysis of the market and suggestions on how to improve the regulatory framework to allow the effective introduction of forecasting tools.
The third phase will take place between August 2017 and September 2018. It consists of the implementation of a forecasting pilot for renewable energy and sending the results to the dispatch administrator, with the constant support of energy & meteo systems and the plant operators. This phase aims to study the quality of the forecasts that can be achieved for renewable energies and their usefulness for electricity dispatch, grid integration and system operations.
The project will be finalized with a second workshop in November 2018, in which the results of the project will be presented.