Solar + Storage Power Plant Forecasting and Controls for PPA Optimization

As the penetration of renewables increases, the bilateral renewables market is rapidly shifting from simple feed-in tariffs to more complex contracts that value certainty and which require sophisticated forecasting and controls across several timescales. Optimization is a robust technology which can represent many assets and contracts.

This session will discuss considerations and architecture for a Wärtsilä GEMS control system deployed on a 250MW solar + storage project in Georgia, USA (Hickory Park by RWE) which uses optimization in three stages:

1. Stochastic optimization for making binding day-ahead commitments in a bilateral contract

2. Model predictive control with mixed integer convex optimization for intraday planning

3. Convex optimization for real-time power allocation across plant subsystems.

The session will feature guest speaker Swetha Sundaram from RWE who will speak to:

· Renewables + storage / bilateral renewables market broadly in the US

· Hickory Park project collaboration with Wärtsilä

Speakers:

Stephen Schneider, Principal Software Engineer, Wärtsilä Energy Storage and Optimization

Swetha Sundaram, Director, Energy Storage Project Design, RWE