ISO-NE now publishing seven-day wind power forecast

Currently, about 700 megawatts (MW) of wind power generation are connected to the New England electric grid. An additional 2,800 MW of wind power are in the ISO’s generation interconnection queue, representing nearly 40% of all generation projects being proposed for development in the region. The ISO is taking steps to prepare for managing the grid with an increasing amount of this resource, which has operating characteristics different from traditional resources in that the fuel—wind—is available intermittently. One major initiative underway this year is the development of a centralized wind power forecast. In May, the ISO began publishing a seven-day wind forecast for New England. Each weekday, a CSV file is made available on the ISO website that provides an aggregate wind power projection for each hour for the next seven days. The forecast is still under development and is posted for informational purposes only; the full, final forecast should be operational before the end of 2013. The forecast is already providing useful data on the expected output of wind power resources in the region.