The Use of a High Resolution Surface and Remote Sensing Network for Renewable Energy Applications

New York State is now deploying, as part of a state-wide “meso-network”, 125 surface meteorological and hydrological observation stations, including 17 sites with LiDAR wind profilers paired with microwave radiometers. This “New York State Mesonet” (NYS Mesonet) will be the most advanced permanent network of its type in the world. The overarching goal of the NYS Mesonet, as set forth in the State's 2014 Hazard Mitigation Vision Statement, is “… to reduce deaths, injuries, and economic losses stemming from natural hazards, and to lead by example in fostering community resilience and protecting the environment in the face of future natural events to improve the lives of the people of the State.”

The lack of sufficient high resolution profiles of temperature, humidity, and winds currently reduces our confidence in forecasts of these potential threats to New York's energy sector. As part of this mitigation plan, a key objective of the NYS Mesonet is to ameliorate vulnerabilities to in-state power generation facilities and transmission infrastructure. This will be accomplished through better forecasts of extreme events (such as icing and high winds), power system load, and energy production.

With increasing penetration of renewables on the grid, there is a need for utilities, wind farm operators, and other interested parties (i.e. the New York Independent System Operator) to identity potential threats to the grid stability such as imminent ramp events (that is, large short-term swings in wind and solar power generation). Deployment of NYS Mesonet will also facilitate wind and solar resource assessment, reducing future generation (meteorological) uncertainties and financial (“bankability”) risks associated with siting utility-scale and distributed generation facilities in the State. and financial (“bankability”) risks associated with siting utility-scale and distributed generation facilities in the State.