An Insights Spotlight interview with Solcast Chief Technology Officer Nick Engerer.
Report extract
On 13 January 2021 a thick cloud band moved across South Australia, causing over 400 MW of renewable energy generation to rapidly become unavailable. While AEMO’s centralised forecasting system was unable to predict the cloud band, Solcast’s Nowcasting trial successfully forecasted the timing and magnitude of the cloud band and the associated ramping events. This development in ‘nowcasting’ can inform AEMO of future ramping events ahead of time and allow AEMO to balance rapid changes in generation and demand. We asked Dr Nick Engerer, the Chief Technology Officer at Solcast, a couple of questions about the ramping event, including his thoughts on the importance of forecasting renewable energy output into the future.
