Method and system for forecasting wind energy

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9337656-B2
Application number	US-201113639824-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 6, 2011
Priority date	Apr 8, 2010
Publication date	May 10, 2016
Grant date	May 10, 2016

Abstract

A method for forecasting wind energy production is disclosed. The method includes collecting power data indicative of power output from a set of wind energy installations with a first wind energy installation at a first site and a second wind energy installation at a second site, and estimating the available power output at a forecasting site located at a geographic position. The estimating is based on power data from the set of wind energy installations by projecting the power data towards the future and/or the geographic position of the forecasting site. Further disclosed is a method for scheduling wind energy production for an electricity grid and a wind energy production forecasting system configured for forecasting output power of a wind energy installation.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. Method for forecasting wind energy production, comprising:
collecting power data indicative of power output from a set of wind energy installations comprising a first wind energy installation at a first site and a second wind energy installation at a second site, and
estimating available power output at a forecasting site located at a geographic position, the estimating being based on the power data from the set of wind energy installations by projecting the power data to determine at least one of the future power output at the forecasting site and the current power output at the forecasting site.

2. Method according to claim 1 , wherein the forecasting site is identical to one of the first and the second site, and the power data is projected to determine the future power output at the forecasting site.

3. Method according to claim 1 , wherein collecting power data comprises collecting at least a first and a second set of power data at a first and a second time, respectively, each set of power data being indicative of power output from at least the first and the second wind energy installations.

4. Method according to claim 1 , wherein estimating the available power output comprises projecting the power data to determine the current power output at the geographic position of the forecasting site, wherein projecting comprises at least one of an extrapolation method and an interpolation method based on the power data indicative of power output from the wind energy installations at the first and second sites, wherein the geographic position is outside the first and second wind energy installations.

5. Method according to claim 1 , wherein estimating the available power output at the forecasting site is based on weather data of geographic positions of the first and second wind energy installations, the weather data comprising at least one of wind speeds and wind directions.

6. Method according to claim 1 , wherein estimating the available power output at the forecasting site is based on at least one of a direction and a magnitude of a power gradient derived from the power data.

7. Method according to claim 1 , further comprising calculating one or more power densities from the power data and the estimating is based on the power densities as power data.

8. Method according to claim 1 , further comprising calculating one or more unified power densities from the power data and the estimating is based on the uniform power densities as power data.

9. Method according to claim 1 , wherein estimating the available power output at the forecasting site comprises estimating one or more unified power densities at the forecasting site.

10. Method according to claim 1 , wherein estimating the available power output at the forecasting site is based on cross correlation of power data indicative of power output from the first wind energy installation and the second wind energy installation.

11. Method according to claim 1 , wherein estimating the available power output at the forecasting site is based on transport of scalars other than the power output, the scalars comprising at least one of temperature, pressure and gases released in an airflow.

12. Method according to claim 1 , further comprising sending data indicative of the available power output at the forecasting site to a wind installation operator.

13. Method for forecasting wind energy, comprising:
collecting power data indicative of power output from a set of wind energy installations comprising a first wind energy installation at a first site and a second wind energy installation at a second site, and
estimating available power output at a forecasting site based on power data from the set of wind energy installations and power gradients derived from the power data.

14. Wind energy production forecasting system comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is configured to perform an operation for estimating available power output at a forecasting site based on power data indicative of power output from a set of wind energy installations, the operation comprising:
collecting the power data indicative of the power output from the set of wind energy installations comprising a first wind energy installation at a first site and a second wind energy installation at a second site; and
estimating the available power output at the forecasting site located at a geographic position, the estimating being based on the power data from the set of wind energy installations by projecting the power data to determine at least one of the future power output at the forecasting site and the current power output at the forecasting site.

15. Wind energy forecasting system according to claim 14 , comprising an interface for connecting the wind energy forecasting system to a data network, the wind energy forecasting system being adapted for collecting the power data indicative of the power output of the set of wind energy installations comprising the first wind energy installation and the second wind energy installation via the interface.

16. Method according to claim 1 , wherein the first wind energy installation comprises a plurality of wind turbines in a first wind park and the second wind energy installation comprises a plurality of wind turbines in a second wind park, wherein the first wind park is separated by a distance from the second wind park.

Assignees

• Westergaard Carsten Hein
• Vestas Wind Sys As

Inventors

• Westergaard Carsten Hein

Classifications

• H02J3/004

  Generation forecast, e.g. methods or systems for forecasting future energy generation · CPC title

• H02J3/003 Primary

  Load forecast, e.g. methods or systems for forecasting future load demand · CPC title

• H02J3/381

  Dispersed generators · CPC title

• H02J2101/28

  Wind energy · CPC title

• Y02E10/763

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic