The increasing weather-dependence of supply and demand is making power system planning dramatically more complex and in need of much more comprehensive weather data for robust system planning. The electricity system is rapidly shifting to a system in which wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear generators provide most of the generation; energy-limited resources such as battery storage are rapidly becoming more prevalent; behind-the-meter generation is blurring the lines between generation and load; and load is fundamentally changing as transportation and heating electrify. To robustly quantify the range and probability of possible supply/demand combinations in future planning scenarios requires long time series of temporally coincident weather variables that accurately describe the frequency distribution and evolution of all the weather impacts concurrently affecting the electricity system.
To assess the gaps in existing weather data used in power system planning and outline a process for producing ideal weather datasets for planning studies, ESIG convened a Weather Datasets Project Team. This group of experts in meteorology and power system planning developed a report that provides details on what is needed and why, outlines the status of and gaps in existing data and methods, and describes an approach to building a solid, long-term solution.
This project produced the following set of publications:
Weather Dataset Needs for Planning and Analyzing Modern Power Systems (Full Report). This is the complete text of the report, including detail on all aspects of the gaps, needs, and solutions, as well as a section covering meteorology fundamentals for power systems planners, engineers, and others. This full version is intended for technical experts engaged deeply in this work. (108 pages, plus glossary, references, and appendices) A high-resolution version of the full report can be found here (40MB).
Weather Dataset Needs for Planning and Analyzing Modern Power Systems (Summary Report). The summary report distills the gaps, needs, and solutions, and does not include the full background section on meteorology fundamentals. This version is intended for a broader audience in power system planning, and it can be paired with “Meteorology 101” if further detail on meteorology for power system modeling and planning is desired. (34 pages, plus selected bibliography and appendix)
“Meteorology 101: Meteorological Data Fundamentals for Power System Planning.” This overview of meteorology for power system planners, engineers, modelers, and others is a stand-alone version of Section 2 in the full report. We have published it as a stand-alone document to accompany the summary version of the report, for readers of the summary who wish to delve more deeply into datasets and models used in power system planning studies.
Fact sheets to come.
