Short Term Prediction of Wind Speed Based on Long-Short Term Memory Networks

Power utilities, developers, and investors are pushing towards larger penetrations of wind and solar energy-based power generation in their existing energy mix. This study, specifically, looks towards wind power deployment in Saudi Arabia. For profitable deplopement of wind power, accurate knowledge of wind speed both in spatial and time domains is critical. The wind speed is the most fluctuating and intermittent parameter in nature compared to all the meteorological variables. This uncertain nature of wind speed makes wind power more difficult to predict ahead of time. Wind speed is dependent on meteorological factors such as pressure, temperature, and relative humidity and can be predicted using these meteorological parameters. The forecasting of wind speed is critical for grid management, cost of energy, and quality power supply. This study proposes a short-term, multi-dimensional prediction of wind speed based on Long-Short Term Memory Networks (LSTM). Five models are developed by training the networks with measured hourly mean wind speed values from 1980 to 2019 including exogenous inputs (temperature and pressure). The study found that LSTM is a powerful tool for a short-term prediction of wind speed. However, the accuracy of LSTM may be compromised with the inclusion of exogenous features in the training sets and the duration of prediction ahead.