2018 Abridged Consultation on Amendments to the Energy Conversion Model (ECM) Guidelines

AEMO is conducting an abridged consultation on amendments to the Energy Conversion Model (ECM) Guidelines.

The ECM for:

• Wind forecasting outlines the data required to develop forecasting modules for wind farms in the Australian Wind Energy Forecasting System (AWEFS)
• Solar forecasting outlines the data required to develop forecasting modules for solar farms in the Australian Solar Energy Forecasting System (ASEFS)

The ECM is a model that defines how the intermittent input energy source (such as wind) is converted by the semi-scheduled generating unit into electrical output. The model must contain the information set out in the guidelines published by AEMO in accordance with clause 2.2.7(d) of the National Electricity Rules (NER). As part of the Registration process, all new semi-scheduled generators and some non-scheduled intermittent generators connecting to the National Electricity Market (NEM) are required to submit an ECM. Further information about solar and wind energy forecasting can be found here.

The objective of this consultation is to modify the existing ECMs into a more coherent and cohesive set of documents. This is expected to improve the efficiency of the registration application process by simplifying the ECM approval process and therefore, expediting the ECM approval time.  

For information on the previous ECM consultation in 2016, please view the consultation page here. 

Final Report and Determination

• Amendments to the Energy Conversion Model Guidelines Consultation – 2018 Final Report and Determination
• Guide to Data Requirements for AWEFS and ASEFS

The AWEFS and ASEFS ECM Guidelines can be found via the Solar and Wind Energy Forecasting webpage.

Update – 21 December 2018

Consultation Timeline

This consultation will involve one round of submissions, with the final ECM documentation to be released following the submission close date, below. Please direct submissions to op.forecasting@aemo.com.au.

Revised as at 21 December 2018

Submissions

• ECM Consultation – Infigen
• ECM Consultation – Tilt Renewables

Overview of updates

A detailed description of changes proposed in the draft Solar and Wind Energy Conversion Models can be found in the ‘Summary of proposed changes to the Wind and Solar ECM Guidelines 2018’ link, below. A high-level summary is as follows:

• Cosmetic updates to page layout (i.e. inserting a comments column)
• Aligning the formatting of the wind and solar ECMs to be consistent with each other
  • Formatting and naming of tabs
  • Structure layout and order of SCADA signals
• Correcting valid range errors
• Updating the definition of solar PV clusters to more accurately reflect our actual cluster definition process
• Removing fields that duplicate the registration application form or are not used by AEMO
• The ‘description’ for a number of parameters has been updated to avoid confusion and provide consistency with other AEMO teams’ requirements
• Addition of Possible Power as an optional SCADA signal
• Removal of Estimated Power SCADA signal

Initial consultation documents:

• Summary of proposed changes to the Wind and Solar ECM Guidelines 2018 (652 KB, pdf)
• Draft – Energy Conversion Model - Wind (86 KB, xlsx)
• Draft – Energy Conversion Model - Solar (386 KB, xlsx)

Any queries on this consultation, please contact the Operational Forecasting team at op.forecasting@aemo.com.au.