Short-term Forecasting of Photovoltaic Generation based on Conditioned Learning of Geopotential Fields

International audienceDue to environmental concerns, renewable energy sources (RES) play an increasingly important role in the energy mix. In France, from 2018 to 2019, an increase of 21.2% and 7.8% of energy production was observed for wind and solar respectively [1]. RES are characterized by high variability and limited predictability, mostly due to their dependence on meteorological factors. This variability presents challenges for RES integration into grids and electricity markets: as the penetration of RES increases, power system balancing becomes more complex, and congestions may occur in the grid. This lack of predictability can also have financial consequences. In some European countries, energy producers have to pay penalties proportional to the forecasting error of the injected power. To address these challenges, it is important to accurately predict the future amount of energy production. In this paper we propose a spot statistical forecasting model for very short-term time horizons (from a few minutes up to 6 hours ahead). This model is based on a combination of heterogeneous inputs with a conditioned learning approach. Spatio-temporal inputs (measurements from geographically distributed PV sites and satellite images) are used to enhance short-term predictability, while a weather analog approach enables adaptability to changes in meteorological conditions by considering the most relevant past observations. The performance evaluations are carried out on a case study featuring nine PV plants located in France, over a one-year period