Forecaster introduction

Unlike conventional energy plants, the output of a renewable power plant is as changeable as the weather. A wind farm can’t generate energy without a breeze, while cloud cover impacts a solar power plant’s generating capability.

Accurately anticipating weather conditions ensures plant owners and operators get the most out of their facilities. System operators need to know how much energy a renewable plant can deliver and traders strive to get the best price for every megawatt hour.

Predicting renewable energy production
Previously known as GH Forecaster, DNV GL's Short-term energy forecasting service is vital for effective management of your renewable assets. It provides accurate, up-to-date predictions of energy generation through in-depth, site-specific weather forecasting and our unparalleled understanding of renewable energy systems. 

Our highly skilled and diversely experienced team makes use of base weather data from the world's top weather models, downscaling and localizing them to produce the most accurate forecasts for your particular power plant. Through detailed analysis and modeling, we build a model for each and every plant we forecast, accounting for machine specifics and layouts. We have forecasting experience in over 20 countries for over 50 GW of wind and solar capacity, and your forecast can be provided for any location across the globe.  

When and how you want it
Short-term forecasting is a flexible service comprised of Forecaster Now, Forecaster Live, Forecaster Plus and Forecaster Solutions. We can supply predictions of conditions hour-by-hour up to 15 days ahead, updated as frequently as every 5 minutes in a format of your choice:

• Raw data in formats such as XML and ASCII or customized for your systems
• Interactive graphs covering live forecasts and historical performance
• Monthly reports summarizing accuracy, performance and the metrics you need

Your data can be delivered via email, sFTP, web services or accessed via our dedicated Short-term forecasting website, which is used every day in our customers' control rooms around the world.

Which Forecaster service meets your needs?
Check out the Forecaster Now, Forecaster Live, Forecaster Plus and Forecaster Solutions pages for more information about the benefits of each service level.