PowerWorld Simulator can read historic and forecast weather time-series data with geospatial coordinates. Weather data can include temperature, dew point, wind speed (10m and 100m), wind direction (100m), cloud cover percent, global horizontal irradiance, and direct horizontal irradiance. It can be visualized directly on one-line diagrams. Weather models can be applied to renewable generators, affecting parameters such as maximum MW output, or to transmission line ratings. PowerWorld Simulator’s Time-Step Simulation (TSS) tool can then be used to step through the weather time-series and overlay it with other time-varying parameters such as load.
Below is a visualization of the simulated impact of the October 14, 2023 annual solar eclipse on the US solar PV generation, using historic cloud cover percent and PowerWorld Simulator solar PV weather models. (Source: Texas A&M University)
Resources
- Weather data source files compatible with PowerWorld Simulator may be downloaded here, from the Texas A&M Electric Grid Test Case Repository. This data is sourced from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Reanalysis version 5 (ERA5).
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Quick Start Guide to Using Historical and Forecasted Weather Information in PowerWorld Simulator, Thomas Overbye, PowerWorld Corporation