Better (Weather) forecasts put more wind on grid

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/20111112better_forecasts_put_more_wind_on_grid/

Better forecasts put more wind on grid

By David Shaffer / Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Saturday, November 12, 2011

MINNEAPOLIS — Using new weather-forecasting technology, Xcel Energy says it has vastly improved its ability to predict when wind turbines will run and boosted how much electricity they send to the power grid.

The new capability saved $6 million last year by allowing the utility to avoid running fossil-fuel power plants when it could rely on wind power instead, according to the Minneapolis-based utility.

Scientists at two national labs in Boulder, Colo., contributed to the new prediction system, which was developed under contract to Xcel and used by the utility over the past two years. It was formally turned over to Xcel last month.

The system feeds real-time data from the National Weather Service and wind-farm sensors into software that forecasts wind turbines’ power output, primarily for the next day.

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